Introduction Oedipus tragic hero essay made a considerable contribution when he conceptualized the notion of a tragic hero. Application Of The Freudian Hypothesis:"Oedipus The King" Essay 5 Pages Words. Oedipus is an illustration of a highly moral wise person who has to go through a long way to his wisdom. The tragic hero needs to have a noble stature so that when he falls, it arouses emotions of pity and fear in the audience, oedipus tragic hero essay. In conclusion, it is possible to state that Oedipus is a perfect tragic hero as he is characterized by all the five major features of a tragic hero mentioned by Aristotle.
Related essays
The Great Gatsby Essays. Animal Farm Essays. The Crucible Essays. Oedipus murders his own father and marries his mother. Which is exactly what he had tried so hard not to do for years, but it was his fate. However, he is still widely considered a hero because he is courageous, has a quest, a weakness, and much more. Write my paper. In the story, he is known as a tragic hero because he is the cause of his own horrific downfall, unable to accept his morbid fate from an all-knowing oracle. When Oedipus was an infant, his father went to an oracle that told him if he had kids, they would grow up to kill him and marry his wife.
Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting to be murdered, he leaves Oedipus on a nearby hill to die oedipus tragic hero essay exposure, but the child survives. Someone from a neighboring kingdom hears Oedipus crying and brings oedipus tragic hero essay infant to the King and Queen, who are not able to bear children. When Oedipus grows up, he is told that the King and Queen who took him in are not his real parents. Oedipus becomes confused and curious about his birth parents and where they are, so he goes to the oracle.
Of course, he is unaware that it is the same oracle his father went to. This is a heroic trait of Oedipus because the oracle is his wise guide, as most heroes have a wise guide. The Oracle tells the same thing to Oedipus that was told to his father when he was a child. That he would kill his father and marry his mother. At this point, he thinks that the oracle meant the parents that took him in as an infant. So, he tries to escape his inevitable fate by going to the next kingdom over, thinking that if he avoids his parents, he cannot do them any harm. However, oedipus tragic hero essay, the next kingdom over just happens to be the kingdom that his real parents rule.
This moment shows his major flaw. His inability to accept his destiny, causing him to run head-on into it. When Oedipus makes it to the kingdom that belongs to his biological parents, he gets into an argument with a man, not knowing that the man happens to be his father. Fulfilling the first half of his destiny, he kills his father. This incident reveals yet another one of his flaws, his temper. After Oedipus unknowingly kills his father, the gods put a plague on Thebes, sending down a Sphinx. The Sphinx kept everyone from leaving oedipus tragic hero essay entering Thebes, killing travelers and destroying their crops.
The only oedipus tragic hero essay to defeat him was to solve this riddle, but if anyone were to answer the riddle wrong or do not give an answer at all, they would die. Oedipus was very clever to solve the riddle that no one else could. The people of the kingdom, grateful to Oedipus, oedipus tragic hero essay, and in need of a new king because their old king supposedly did not have any children to be his heir. Oedipus is completely oblivious to the fact that he has just done exactly what he tried so hard to avoid until his mother discovers the news. Overcome with grief from learning that she has married her own son, she kills herself.
Oedipus tragic hero essay finding his dead mother, oedipus tragic hero essay, Oedipus blinds himself from seeing such a horrible sight. He felt that it was his fault and that he could have avoided his fate, but it was all inevitable, oedipus tragic hero essay. Oedipus leaves Thebes, and his crown, with two of his kids that he made with his mother and lives the rest of his sad life as a blind beggar. All in all, Oedipus is still widely known as a tragic hero because of his great courage, his quest, and weakness. His courage is shown the most when he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, knowing very well that he could die. His quest is to avoid his inevitable destiny, and his weakness is arguably one of the most important parts of the play.
This ended up leading him directly into a tragic life of sadness and denial. This aspect of Oedipus typically makes the audience pity him. They relate to the human characteristics and all the horrible things happening that he cannot oedipus tragic hero essay. This makes them feel closer to his character. He has so many heroic traits, oedipus tragic hero essay, but a tragic life that cannot be escaped. It does not reflect the quality of papers completed by our expert essay writers. To get a custom and plagiarism-free essay click here. We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to oedipus tragic hero essay. We will occasionally send you account related emails.
In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper. The Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King. Category: Literature Subcategory: Greek MythologyPlaysLiterary Genres Topic: OedipusOedipus The KingTragic Hero Pages: 2 Words: Download. Related Topics The Great Gatsby Essays Animal Farm Essays The Crucible Essays The Great Gatsby Essays The Crucible Essays. Want to receive an original paper on this topic? Related essays Oedipus As A Recovered Character In Oedipus The King Oedipus tragic hero essay 1 Page Words. Oedipus' Character Analysis Of Oedipus The King Essay 1 Page Words. Literary Analysis Of Oedipus The King Essay 2 Pages Words. Application Of The Freudian Hypothesis:"Oedipus The King" Essay 5 Pages Words.
The Role Of Fate In Oedipus The King Essay 2 Pages Words. Oedipus Teh King: Analysis Essay 4 Pages Words. Characteristic Of Macbeth Essay 5 Pages Words. A Four Important Novel In World's Literature Essay 1 Page Words. Found a great essay sample but want a unique one? Request writing assistance from a top writer in the field! Get your paper, oedipus tragic hero essay.
examples of history essays
His courage is shown the most when he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, knowing very well that he could die. His quest is to avoid his inevitable destiny, and his weakness is arguably one of the most important parts of the play. This ended up leading him directly into a tragic life of sadness and denial. This aspect of Oedipus typically makes the audience pity him. They relate to the human characteristics and all the horrible things happening that he cannot avoid. This makes them feel closer to his character.
He has so many heroic traits, but a tragic life that cannot be escaped. It does not reflect the quality of papers completed by our expert essay writers. To get a custom and plagiarism-free essay click here. We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to you. We will occasionally send you account related emails. In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper. The Tragic Hero In Oedipus The King. Category: Literature Subcategory: Greek Mythology , Plays , Literary Genres Topic: Oedipus , Oedipus The King , Tragic Hero Pages: 2 Words: Download.
Related Topics The Great Gatsby Essays Animal Farm Essays The Crucible Essays The Great Gatsby Essays The Crucible Essays. Want to receive an original paper on this topic? Related essays Oedipus As A Recovered Character In Oedipus The King Essay 1 Page Words. Oedipus' Character Analysis Of Oedipus The King Essay 1 Page Words. Literary Analysis Of Oedipus The King Essay 2 Pages Words. As a consequence, Oedipus will live the rest of his life in blindness, as a punishment far worse that what he deserved. When Oedipus had vision he was in the dark for not knowing the past. However, when Oedipus blinded himself, he was brought from the darkness into the light because he finally knows of his destiny.
Besides being a tragic hero whose punishment was not wholly deserved, Oedipus is also a tragic hero because his fall is not pure loss; his fall involves an increase of selfknowledge. Throughout the play, Oedipus is lacking the knowledge of who his real parents are. Also, Oedipus is stuck with the prophecy that he will eventually kill his father and marry his mother. Basically, what it comes down to is that Oedipus was blind, figuratively, his entire life. It must be tough to live an entire lifetime without having full self-awareness and self-knowledge. Although the resolution of the play was the complete downfall of Oedipus, he did gain the knowledge that he was blind to reality his entire life. At the end of the play, Oedipus learns who his parents are, what he did to and with them, and who he really was.
According to Aristotle, this acquisition of self-knowledge qualifies Oedipus as a tragic hero. Finally, in order to be a tragic hero, the audience has to feel pity for the character. First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus achieves a kind of surrogate death that intensifies his suffering. He comments on the darkness- not just the literal inability to see, but also religious and intellectual darkness- that he faces after becoming bling. Classics,UPenn Because of this, Oedipus is dead, for he receives none of the benefits of the living; at the same time, he is not dead by definition, and so his suffering cannot end.
Oedipus receives the worst of both worlds between life and death, and he elicits greater pity from the audience. du All tragedies have a tragic hero, including Oedipus in the play Oedipus the King. But what is a tragic hero. Aristotle used many different ways to define a tragic hero. His definition contains a set of guidelines that are parallel with the character of Oedipus. Throughout the play Oedipus follow these guidelines and clearly emerges as a tragic hero. By definition, Oedipus is the tragic hero in Oedipus the King because he is noble, he is good, but commits an act of injustice through ignorance, his downfall is his own fault, his misfortune is not wholly deserved, and because his tragic fall is not one of pure loss.
He has a wife and children and treats everyone well. Even when he is angry and may want to commit unjust deeds such as kill a messenger who has brought bad news , he regains control over himself and does the right things. His quick temper is his hamartia , making him a human and a perfect tragic hero. Oedipus loses his temper on the road and kills the people who offend him. He could have been more patient and reasonable and could have tried to teach the offenders another lesson. Oedipus hit the man in the carriage that attacked him, but he could have stopped at that point.
The tragic hero committed a crime that led to a series of other crimes and, eventually, sorrows for the citizens of his home city. The punishment the king has to endure also shows that he is a tragic hero. Oedipus killed several men who started a fight, so, in a sense, it was self-defense as he was trying to protect his life. He married his own mother, but he did not know that the woman he loved was his mother. The punishment was excessively severe, as instead of several people, it involved thousands of people suffered because of the plague. Oedipus personal punishment was also unfairly harsh. He acknowledged that he committed horrible crimes, which was hard for such a decent person with high moral standards. Hence, the punishment imposed by others and by himself is truly excessive, making Oedipus a tragic hero.
The high position of the protagonist of the famous play is undoubtful, which is another feature of a tragic hero.
No comments:
Post a Comment