At this point in the play, you have seen Oedipus interact with the chorus and a variety of individual characters. You may have noticed that since the beginning of the play, Oedipus' reactions to people have become more extreme and angry, which may make him appear less sympathetic. Putting Oedipus' growing anger aside, what qualities and attributes do you see in Oedipus that make him a character with whom you can connect? Certainly his status as a king and a cursed person has the potential to make Oedipus appear distant and difficult to sympathize with, but what are the aspects of his personality and of his circumstance that allow you to be invested in him as a character, relate to him and care about what happens to him?
Please refer to specific lines from the play to illustrate your answer.
Oedipus appears distant and foreign from the outside, as a highly revered and knowledgeable king. But, I feel as though Oedipus is still a character that I can relate to because he experiences very common human emotions.
ReplyDeleteWhen the prophet Tiresias initially accuses him of murdering King Laius, Oedipus denies it. In line 401, Tiresias declares, “You are the curse, the corruption of the land!” To this, Oedipus responds in lines 402-403, “You shameless—aren’t you appalled to start up such a story?” In this scenario, Oedipus reminds me of a common child, perhaps one who ate what appears to be a disregarded cracker off the table and then is later accused of stealing his friend’s snack. Having no idea that the cracker belonged to anyone, of course the child would deny the accusation, as would I, as did Oedipus.
Later, when Oedipus is discovering that he actually could have killed Laius, he shows signs of fear and shame. As he recalls the day of the murder with Jocasta, he says in lines 920-923, “Let me slip from the world of men vanish without a trace before I see myself stained with such corruption, stained to the heart.” Similarly, when that child realizes that he did eat his friend’s cracker, he feels badly.
Sharing in these common emotions makes Oedipus much more relatable to me and to the commoner who might see (or in today's world, read) this play.
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ReplyDeleteOedipus’ nobility and power elevate his character to that of greatness; however, it is through his qualities that one is able to view him as human rather than divine. Even though Oedipus has an especially large temper he is also responding to accusations that seem blind. This quality is a defense mechanism that makes him very relatable to me. Oedipus says to Creon “I caught him in the act…plotting, about to stab me in the back” (lines 718-719). Though this example is extreme it represents how many non-personal accusations in daily life are perceived to be personal. Oedipus has no reason to believe that Creon’s accusations are true so he turns to anger rather than reason; this is a classic human quality.
ReplyDeleteAnother, quality Oedipus possesses that the ability to make a mistake. This seems rudimentary but also incredibly characteristic of a human flaw. As Jocasta describes to Oedipus the circumstances of Laius’ death Oedipus realizes that he may have been the killer all along. In this moment, Oedipus says, “Oh no no, I think I’ve just called down a dreadful curse upon myself—I simply didn’t know!” (lines 820-822). I can relate to this quality because when I realize I made a mistake I also know that my intentions were not negative. Only after the event has transpired are we faced with the realization that we did something wrong.
Even though Oedipus is seen as a great king who saved Thebes, I still feel as if I can relate to him in some ways. I am still invested in what happens to his character in the play. The entire situation that he is in makes me care about what happens to him. I feel as if I can also relate to the sadness and guilt that he feels when he begins to realize that he is most likely the murderer of King Laius.
ReplyDeleteOedipus’ entire situation of being destined to kill his father and marry his mother as well as his goal to rescue Thebes is what keeps me invested in his overall character. It just seems very sad that Oedipus was basically put into a situation that was destined to happen; a situation over which he had no control. Even when Oedipus originally finds out about this prophecy, he runs away from Corinth thinking that he could avoid this prophecy. In the play, Oedipus recounts the time in which he went to the oracle and found out this prophecy. He says, “…first he flashed before my eyes a future / great with pain, terror, and disaster… / I heard all that and ran…/ I would never see / the shame of all those oracles come true” (Lines 871 – 880). These lines clearly show that Oedipus’ main goal is to do the right thing and avoid the gruesome things that he was destined to do. He did not want to commit a sinister act upon his family members. I am basically invested in Oedipus’ character because he actively tried to avoid the disaster that he was prophesized to cause. Sadly, by trying to avoid disaster, he creates it. The kindness of Oedipus is further shown since his major goal is to save Thebes from the plague. He is willing to go through great lengths to find the killer of Thebes not for his own benefit, but for the benefit of his people. This is a character trait that I highly respect, since Oedipus is thinking mostly about the safety of the people of Thebes. I feel as if I was in this situation, I would also do what was need to help the people who I oversee.
When Oedipus begins to realize that he was most likely the killer of King Laius, he starts to feel guilt. He also feels that he needs to be punished for his actions. Oedipus says, “I am abomination—heart and soul! / I must be exiled and even in exile / never see my parents again…” (Lines 911 – 913). After connecting what he remembers to the words of Jocasta, he begins to feel like a monster. He is saddened by what he has down. Many characters would not do this, Oedipus is one of the few who owns up to the mistakes/ evils he has done. This continues to show the goodness within Oedipus and his more “human side”. He even mentions not seeing his parents again. Still in fear that he might follow the prophecy (even though, unbeknownst to him, it has already been done), he makes it clear that he does not want to commit more evils. This further shows that Oedipus does not desire to do anything wrong or harmful to others without reason. I care about what happens to Oedipus because deep inside, he still seems like a good person. Similar to Oedipus, I desire to doing nothing wrong, I want to help others, and I would never want one of my actions to be the cause of harm to another person.
While Oedipus’ position of nobility distances himself from the common reader, there are parts of his personality and situation I can sympathize with, namely his loyalty to his people and his guilt over being the cause of their plight.
ReplyDeleteWhen Oedipus first faces the chorus and the Priest of Zeus, he says “I have wept through the nights, you must know that, groping, laboring over many paths of thought” (line 162). Even though I have never held such a great responsibility of being king to a kingdom, the pain Oedipus feels for his suffering people is the emotion I most resonate with. The stress of knowing people directly under your charge as a monarch are suffering and that you have no solution to their troubles would certainly keep me up at night.
Oedipus’ situation of having to run away from home in order to escape murdering the parents who raised him strikes me as incredibly tragic, only to be fated to kill his biological father and marry his biological mother strikes me as incredibly tragic. His line when considering such shows how Oedipus both pities himself and is disgusted with himself: “Wasn’t I born for torment? Look me in the eyes! I am abomination – heart and soul!”(lines 910-11).
Alex Zheng's Comment: 10:41:47PM
ReplyDeleteThough we are exposed to Oedipus’ extreme and angry characteristics, there are still many qualities and attributes in him that help us connect with him.
One of them is his selflessness. Oedipus deeply cares for Thebes’ well-being. We can infer his caring for the city from what he said to a priest begging him to help stop the plague: “Well I know you are sick to death, all of you but sick as you are, not one is sick as I. Your pain strikes each of you alone, each in the confines of himself, no other. But my spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you. (p162)” We can also infer his deeply caring for Thebes from his actions later on: persistent in wanting to find out Laius’s murder and saving Thebes from the plague, even when “divine knowledge” suggests him not to; being mad at, and cursing Laius’s murder, even when considering it might be a close one; and, after finding out he, Oedipus, might be the murderer, willing to leave the city himself: “Oh no, not that, you hire and awesome gods, never let me see that day! Let me slip from the world of men, vanish without a trace before I see myself stained with such corruption, stained to the heart. (p207)” Oedipus’ selflessness gains our respect, and thus helps us connect with him.
Another one of Oedipus’ qualities that helps us connect to him is that he is a smart leader. An example of his cleverness is when he says the murderer of Laius won’t suffer unbearable punishment, nothing worse than exile, totally unharmed (p171). By saying this, his people won’t be too afraid to report the murderer, given that the punishment isn’t too severe compared to other ancient greek punishments, but the punishment is just enough to stop the plague. Oedipus being a smart leader gains our trust, and thus helps us connect with him.
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ReplyDeleteOedipus has character flaws that enable the readers to sympathize with him. His flaws include helplessness, fear of his own actions, and the accusation of others.
ReplyDeleteOedipus is a Tragic character in that he does not control his own fate. His is destined to kill his father and marry his mother, and the more he tries to escape the prophesy, he leads himself into it. People encounter misfortune all the time, and therefore can relate easily.
Another flaw of Oedipus is his accusation of Creon and Tiresias. When he hears the prophesy from Tiresias, without trying to search for logical evidence, he immediately accuses him and Creon for conspiracy. He tells Creon: "if the two of you had never put heads together, we would never have heard about my killing Laius." (Line 639-340) meaning that the theory that Oedipus killed Laius only could have come from Creon's head. He also asks Tiresias: "aren't you appalled to start up such a theory?" (Line 403)
Oedipus also fears that Tiresias's prophecy might be true. After he calms down and gather evidence with Jocasta, he realizes that he might have been the one who actually killed Laius. He then feels really guilty, and regrets putting the curse upon himself. "And All these curses I—no one but I brought down these piling curses on myself" (Line 906)
Although Oedipus has a very strong and aggressive personality as king, his character flaws and pitiful circumstance makes him seem more human to me.
ReplyDeleteDespite warnings from Tiresias, Oedipus continues on his quest to find out who killed the previous king Laius. But I believe that his is truly out of the good of his heart. From the first moment he stepped into Thebes all he has done is try to help, and although it may have had the opposite effect he was still genuine. I really do think that he cares for the wellbeing of his people: “I grieve for these, my people, far more than I fear for my own life” (lines 105-106). This side of Oedipus has kept me interested in what exactly will unfold and care about what will happen to him even though I do know the ending.
Usually when people think of king-like and god-like figures they would imagine that they don’t have the same emotions and experiences as us. But Oedipus tries his best to relate and understand the feelings of the townspeople, which makes me interested in him. I feel like I can connect because even though people can be cocky, he is still invested in his duties. He expresses his emotions of pity, pain, and grieving on page 162: “I pity you…your pain strikes, my spirit grieves for the city, for myself, and all of you” (70,74-75). Even though he is acting cockily, I do believe that he is showing a side of him that many powerful leaders would not like to show. Almost making him look weak. No normal leader would be okay with feeling sad or grieving.
These qualities of Oedipus make him more human and easier to connect to.
submitted on behalf of Matt:
ReplyDeleteOedipus is an easy character to sympathizes for and thats because all actions made by Oedipus whether it was even cursing himself was made for the good of his people. Anger can get the best of us all and I think Oedipus outrage towards Creon only makes him easier to connect to because it shows the difference between Man vs. God. Man is not perfect and thats all Oedipus is in the long run although being royalty and a king he still can have a short temper similar to the chorus and reader. Starting on lines 573 when Creon states "I hear King Oedipus levels terrible charges on me" draws the reader to later find out Oedipus is now making conclusions that Creon is trying to overthrow him because he is the one who recommended Tiresias. Oedipus left with little choices is confused and angry and rejects belief of the prophet Tiresias even though his creditability and power of foresight. This refusal to believe what can be the horrifying truth was easy to connect for me and sympathize for him. A lot of times whether it be a traumatic experience such as a death we as humans don't want to believe the truth until it hits us in the face. We avoid this truth by either not confronting the issue or by taking the issue head on and blaming other people for it which we say Oedipus does to Creon. Oedipus later gets the issue slapped right across his face when he finally comes to the self realization he is the murder of Laius. This occurs on pages 819-821 when Jocasta is talking about the death of Laius. Oedipus then comes to the fact he is the killer and says "oh no no, I think I've called down a dreadful curse upon myself -- I simply didn't know!" Post realization of the correct foresight Tiresias spoke towards now has Oedipus willing to accept his punishment which can defiantly make easy connection from reader to Oedipus. His fear of the truth spoken by Tiresias and his then outright anger to his uncle/brother-in-law holds true even in todays society but as mentioned before it is seen in circumstances more similar to the death of a loved one instead of the riddle said by Tiresesias.