Friday, July 19, 2019
The Cruel Transformation in Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus the King
The Cruel Transformation in Oedipus the King à à à When we look in the mirror, do we see what other people see or do we see what we delude ourselves into believing is the truth?à Self-realization is a complicated concept, one which many Greek dramatists used in order to clarify the themes of their tragedies.à In Oedipus the King, Sophocles ties Oedipusââ¬â¢ journey to self-realization with the main theme of the story.à As Oedipus slowly begins to realize his true self, he transforms from a proud and heroic king into a tyrant in denial into a scared, condemned man, humbled by his tragic fate.à à In the beginning, Oedipus is portrayed as a confident, powerful hero.à His bravery and worth are proved when the reader learns how he solved the Sphinxââ¬â¢s riddle.à Even though Oedipus was not a native Theban, he chose to answer the Sphinxââ¬â¢s riddle in spite of her threat of death to anyone who answers incorrectly.à Only a man like Oedipus, a man possessing tremendous self-confidence, could have such courage.à When Oedipus succeeds, freeing the city from the Sphinx's evil reign, he becomes instantly famous and known for his bravery and intelligence.à A temple priest reveals the respect the Thebans have for their king when he tells Oedipus, "You freed us from the ... ...King.â⬠In Readings on Sophocles, edited by Don Nardo. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Owen, E. T.à ââ¬Å"Drama in Sophoclesââ¬â¢ Oedipus Tyrannus.â⬠In Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. Oââ¬â¢Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. Sophocles.à "Oedipus Rex."à An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al.à New York: Longman, 1997. Van Nortwick, Thomas.à Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
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