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Oedipus6

Oedipus6 There are several cases in which we, being the humans that we are, do unintelligent things. This central theme has been used throughout the ages in literature, poetry and theatre. In Socrates’ Oedipus, he shows that even people in high positions, like King’s, are unable to realize the information in front of them. In most Greek tragedies, characters have what is called a hubris which is pride or humans believing that they are more powerful than the Gods or people ordained by gods to be messengers. In the case of Oedipus, his hubris was also his hamartia or tragic mistake which makes him the tragic hero of the play. His hubris caused several reactions that effected the people around him including: effecting his country through the plague, effecting parents through fulfilling the profecy, and effecting his own life and his eventual downfall by making himself blind. Oedipus’s pride caused him a lot of trouble not only when he reached the land of Thebes, where he became king, but also in his own land of Corinth. There are several examples in which Oedipus is not able to put aside his pride and put the pieces of the puzzle together in order to realize that the Oracle prophecy came true. In the beginning, he believes that he can outsmart the Oracle. In fact, when telling Iocaste about his past he states that, “They prophesied that I should kill Polybus, kill my won father; but he is dead and buried, and I am here—I never touched him, never, unless he died of grief for my departure, and thus, in a sense through me. No. Polybus has pacted the oracles off with him underground. They are empty words (I iii 54-59).” First, his pride prevents him from respecting the power that Tireseas is given by the gods by being disrespectful to him. He completely ignores Tireseas when he says, “I say that you are the murder whom you seek (I i 144).” He is told straight out that he is the murderer and instead says in response, “Now twice you have spat out infamy. You’ll pay for it (I i 145).” Second, his pride prevents him from seeing the similarities between Iocaste’s story of how her husband died with his own story of how he got to Thebes. Iocate tells him that Laios was killed at a place where three highways meet (I ii 185-94) and this jogs Oedipus’s memory and he tells the story of how he killed a man where three highways came together. He then proceeds to say, “If he maintains that still, if there were several, clearly the guilt is not mine: I was alone. But if he says one man, singledhanded, did it, Then the evidence all points to me (I ii 315-19).” Thus, because of his pride, he still believes that it is just purely considence that he killed a man where three roads meet and the King died at the same spot. In the end, his ultimate pride was shown in the fact that he thought that he could out smart the gods by leaving Polybus and Merope. This pride prevents him from seeing all the truths that were right in front of his face and also caused several consequences. The pride that Oedipus posessed throughout the play caused several things to occur as the Oracle told them. One of the things that effected all the people of Thebes was the plague. First, Creon, the brother of Iocaste, goes to the Oracle and is told, “He [Laios] was murdered; and Apollo commands us now to take revenge upon whoever killed him (I ii 110).” Oedipus’s pride, which made him think that he could beat the gods, caused the plague in the city of Thebes. The only reason he had to leave Corinth was to avoid his fate and prevent himself from killing his father and marrying his mother. Thus, if Oedipus did not think that he could beat the gods, then it is very likely that he would not have left Corinth. Second, Oedipus’s pride prevented him from realizing that Tireseas was right when he said that he was the murderer after Creon told them that they should take revenge upon the murderer of Laios. Oedipus thought that Tireseas was lying to him. Because Tireseas had power given to him by the gods, in a way, Oedipus was, again, saying that he was better than someone the gods gave power to by not believing Tireseas’s prophecy or in his gift. Oedipus’s pride effected the lives of the people of Thebes, through the plague put on the people. Another effect that Oedipus’s pride had in the play was on his parents, Laios and Iocaste. His pride caused him to come to Thebes in the first place. Had he not come to Thebes, then perhaps he would not have killed his father and married his mother. Also, his pride in thinking that he was better than others, including the gods, caused him to solve the Sphinx’s riddle. This, in turn, made him a hero in the city of Thebes and he became the new king. When he was told of the news that Laios was killed at a place in which three highway’s meet, he thinks that it was not the same person that he killed because someone said that there were more people there than should have been. His pride prevented him from listening Iocaste when she told him that he should not investigate his true parents when she realizes that she is his mother (I iii 149). In the end, his pride prevented him from seeing the truth that his parents were really Laios and Iocaste. Oedipus’s pride also effects his own life. He constantly put off believed that he was the murderer and instead believed that he could outsmart the gods. Oedipus’s pride prevented him from seeing the truth about himself. He makes a promise to the people about finding the person who murdered Laios and have revenge on him as if he were Laios’s son. When he is told, “He [Polybus] had no children, and his heart turned to you (I iii 107),” and also that the shepard that gave Oedipus to the messenger was from Laios’s kingdom, he still does not believe that he is the murderer and must find the shepard. Iocaste tries to warn him saying, “For God’s love, let us have no more questioning! Is your life nothing to you? My own is pain enough for me to bear (I iii 140-2),” and he replies to her that she “…need not worry. Suppose my mother a slave, and born of slaves: no baseness can touch you (I iii 143-4).” Oedipus assumes that she is only worrying about whether or not his birth is a noble one when, in fact, she realizes that Oedipus was the baby that she sent away. He does not believe that the gods have nothing to do with his life and instead believes, “ But I am a child of Luck, I cannot be dishonored (I iii 161).” Finally, when he realizes that he killed Laios, he stabs himself in the eyes because of his pride, which made him blind. Oedipus’s pride is a part of the central theme within Sophocles’s play Oedipus. His pride also is a main part of his character flaw which makes him a tragic hero. His pride was the cause of several different occurences that happened to the characters in the story including: effecting his country through the plague, effecting his parents through fulfilling the profecy, and effecting his own life and his eventual downfall through making himself blind. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1277