ike this happen all the time now. Sophocles’ “development of character is richly complex. Instead of relying on the extreme situations and exaggerated actions that earlier tragedians used, Sophocles created powerfully motivated characters who even today fascinate wudiences with their psychological depth (Meyer, 981). People change their personalities and lifestyles based on the influences and suggestions of others. Unmotivated changes are subtler and not very noticeable all at once. They tend to happen over time. These tend to happen from others indirectly, such as dressing similar, talking similar, etc. Finally, the way in which Oedipus the King can be perceived as universal the best is in character traits that are alike in both modern people and Oedipus himself. Oedipus is a very stubborn person. He believes that Tiresias has not told him the truth and was sent by Creon to lie to him, even after Tiresias proves that he can actually see into the future. Modern day people can also be very stubborn, especially if they know or think that they are wrong about something. Oedipus also shows great intelligence. He saved the entire city of Thebes by answering the Sphinx’s riddle and his reward was the crown and the queen’s hand in marriage (Meyer, 987). He ruled the city fairly and justly, and shows his intelligence once again when he figured out that he was the cause if the plague that had fallen upon the city, and that he was the cause. Intelligence is a common character trait found in people today. The most obvious of Oedipus’ character traits was his arrogance. He was sure that Creon wanted his crown and believed that he was the only person in the world who could have saved the city from the sphinx’s plague. Oedipus “ who was beginning to believe, in the fifth century B.C., that he could seize control of his environment and make his own destiny, become, in fact, equated to the gods....
