Oedipus essay topics
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Oedipus Complex
730 wordsThousands of years after Sophocles wrote the story of Oedipus Rex; psychologists named a complex after the behavioral characteristics of Oedipus. For many years psychologists have called a son having a sexual attraction toward his mother the Oedipus Complex. It is common belief that Oedipus Rex did not actually suffer from the Oedipus Complex. The basic support for this theory can be found through Oedipus' inherent fear of the prophecy placed upon him, by the Oracle, actually coming true. Oedipu...
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Blind And Oedipus
1,015 wordsThe play Oedipus Tyrannus, written by Sophocles, is a play filled with symbols and irony involving the aspect of both vision and blindness. This aspect of the novel takes on an important role in the life of Oedipus, the ruler of Thebes. He originally feels as though he knows and sees everything, nevertheless, as the motto of the Oracle at Delphi states, he does not "know thyself", as he will find out toward the end of the play. The notion of seeing and blindness becomes an important and ironic s...
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Oedipus Fate
1,473 wordsFate and Freewill "Oedipus the King", written by Sophocles between C.A. 496-405 B.C. is an example of Sophocles' belief that fate controls a man's life despite his capability of free will. Is life decided by fate, in that there is some master plan for our lives Do we go through life making chance decisions without purpose If life is pre-determined by fate, are we responsible for our actions The Greeks believed heavily in prophecies, pre-determined life, and divine laws. Fate and freewill are exp...
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Thebes To Oedipus
869 wordsOedipus, the ruler of Thebes, approaches a group of unhappy citizens, represented by a priest, and asks them what is wrong. They answer that the city is dying and that they are sick and poor. Oedipus sympathizes and tells them that, as their ruler, he is also troubled by the sickness of the city, and has already taken steps to see that something be done about it. The first step he has taken was to send Creon to Apollo's shrine to see what the god recommends they do. As Creon appears, he tells th...
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King Oedipus
371 wordsIn the play Oedipus by Sophocles, King Oedipus is nothing but a self diluted ruler who thinks too highly of himself. He calls the most respected and revered prophet in the land a liar and scam artist to his face "Say what you will. Whatever you say is worthless... Wealth, power, craft of statesmanship! Kingly position, everywhere admired!" just because Oedipus does not like what he has told him. The fact that he can not, and will not believe that he might have killed his father is strange, takin...
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True In The Case Of Oedipus Rex
1,227 wordsOedipus the King- Bliss in Ignorance One of the most memorable and meaningful Socratic quotes applies well when in context of Sophocles' Theban Trilogy. 'The unexamined life is not worth living,' ; proclaims Socrates. He could have meant many different things by this statement, and in relation to the play, Oedipus, the meaning is found to be even more complex. Indeed, the situation of Oedipus, king of Thebes, the truth of this statement is in question. Would Oedipus have been better off if he wa...
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Perfect Plot For A Tragedy And Oedipus
548 wordsThere have been many tragedies throughout history, including Sophocles play Oedipus Rex. I utterly agree with Aristotle in saying that Oedipus Rex, is one such tragedy. Through the plot, character and thoughts it is evident the Oedipus Rex is a model tragedy. The plot is the soul of the tragedy; it is the arrangement of the incidents. Oedipus Rex is well planned out and follows the outline, which a tragedy should follow. Oedipus left all he had, and his family, all because he was afraid of murde...
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The Selfishness Of Oedipus
1,016 words'Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race", as quoted by William E. Gladstone, supports my thought that selfishness is what causes most of our problems in the modern world. Currently, we are living in an era that is filled with much gluttony and selfishness. However, selfishness is a trait that all of us possess, but the amount of selfishness that we have can determine the type of person we are. For instance, parents should always put their children's needs before their own. Selfish p...
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Oedipus As The Murderer
804 wordsThrought Oedipus Rex, Oedipus displays his heroism many times. From the Prologue of the play to the moment in which he leaves Thebes, Oedipus' heroics become extremely apparent; however, at the same time, the decisions which make Oedipus a hero ultimately become the decisions which bring him to shamefulness and exile. From before Oedipus was born, he was doomed to become the child who would kill his father and marry his mother, a very cursed fate. Throughout his life, the readers learn that Oedi...
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Gift Of Sight Into The Spiritual World
751 wordsBlindness plays a two-fold part in Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus the King". First, Sophocles presents blindness as a physical disability affecting the auger Teiresias, and later Oedipus; but later, blindness comes to mean an inability to see the evil in one's actions and the consequences that ensue. The irony in this lies in the fact that Oedipus, while gifted with sight, is blind to himself, in contrast to Teiresias, blind physically, but able to see the evil to which Oedipus has fallen prey to. ...
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Theseus Promises Oedipus
693 wordsSophocles was a Greek playwright who lived during the 5th century b. c. The Oedipus Cycle is one of his most famous works; the trilogy of plays traces the ill-fated life of a noble blooded man and his descendants. Oedipus at Colonus is the second play of the set. Oedipus at Colonus is set many years after Oedipus the Rex, and Oedipus has changed his perspective on his exile from Thebes. He has decided that he was not responsible for his fate and that his sons should have prevented his exile. His...
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Prophecies To Oedipus Parents
1,108 words"Gods can be evil sometimes". In the play "Oedipus the King", Sophocles defamed the gods' reputation, and lowered their status by making them look harmful and evil. It is known that all gods should be perfect and infallible, and should represent justice and equity, but with Oedipus, the gods decided to destroy him and his family for no reason. It might be hard to believe that gods can have humanistic traits, but in fact they do. The gods, especially Apollo, are considered evil by the reader beca...
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Oedipus's Fate
757 wordsOedipus Rex Oedipus was not composed by his fate; he was responsible for his own conduct. From his very birth Oedipus was predetermined to marry his mother and murder his father. His situation was inevitable. Although Apollo exhorted the prophecy in Delphi, this event only drove Oedipus to fulfill his destiny. There were a series of events that occurred causing Oedipus did to lure himself to destruction. Oedipus wouldn't have cursed himself so ignorantly had he been more diligent to analyze the ...
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Oedipus At Colonus
1,181 wordsOutline I. Oedipus' decency i. To daughters ii. To sons II. Appearance i. Characteristics ii. Clothing. Blinded iv. Confident. Sufferings i. Murder of father / wed mother ii. Betrayed by sons. Exiled iv. Blinded / beggar IV. Divinity. Prays to gods who are to punish him ii. Chooses place of death. Effects. On Theseus ii. On manEssayThe Greek tragedy Oedipus at Colonus was written by the great and renowned Greek playwright Sophocles at around 404 B.C. or so. In the play, considered to be one of t...
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Body 1 Both Oedipus And Othello
696 wordsINTRO The character Oedipus in the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, and the character Othello in the play Othello the Moor of Venice by Shakespeare are both tragic characters. Oedipus ends up killing his father, and marrying and having children with his mother, whereas Othello ends up mistrusting and killing his wife. These two individuals have similarities and differences in several aspects such as the roundness of their characters, the retribution that they incur upon themselves and upon th...
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Oedipus Character Flaw
510 wordsAccording to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should not fall due to either excessive virtue or excessive wickedness, but due to what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia may be interpreted as either a flaw in character or an error in judgement. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles Oedipus the King, certainly makes several such mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his judgemental errors seems to indicate a basic character flaw that precipitates t...
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Sophocles Antigone And Oedipus The King
566 wordsHeroic characters have been portrayed in many ways in literature. The hero character has been shown to be both infallible and imperfect, both strong and weak, and both superhuman and ordinary. Consequently, this central figure has evolved over time to become a very complex character. In his Theban plays, Sophocles presents to the reader typical Greek hero figures: strong and resilient, morally virtuous, but with some flaw that ultimately causes their respective demises. In both Antigone and Oedi...
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Oedipus The King Aristotles Criteria For A Tragedy
436 words3. How Sophocles Oedipus the King fits the description of tragedy provided by Aristotle Why does Aristotle believe tragedy is superior to epic poetry First of all to understand how Oedipus the King fits the description of tragedy we need to know what the description is. Fortunately Aristotles description is kindly provided and explained in detail. It is described that poems have to include certain elements to be called a tragedy. Through logical discussion Aristotle determines these elements to ...
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Ahab Like Oedipus
1,258 wordsAlthough Ahab and Oedipus have diverse styles of leadership, their similar personalities guide both of them to similar tragic ends. They share many characteristics of a good leader, which is a major reason for their previous success, but they also share many bad personality traits, which cause their downfalls. Throughout "Oedipus Rex", Oedipus displays many good qualities that make him a successful leader. In the beginning of the story, the author tells the story of how Oedipus became King of Th...
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Oedipus And Nora
611 wordsIn the play "Oedipus Rex" when the second messenger enters he states to Oedipus, "The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves". This line is the basis of the theme for both Oedipus and A Doll's House. Even though the two plays are very different and set in different times the underlying lesson they are both addressing is the same. Both Oedipus and Nora wind up having to answer for the sins they have committed. Oedipus is a character of grand magnitude. He is a king, rich, powerful a leader ...
