Pride In Oedipus The King

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In Sophocles’ Oedipus, the King, the protagonist Oedipus faces the realization of an ancient prophecy. Based on the foretelling, Oedipus is to kill his father and espouse his mother, Jocasta. While remaining oblivious to the corruption in Thebes, Oedipus’ blindness is metaphorically linked to the ancient prophecy. Oedipus primarily relies on emotion rather than reason, and he lets his self-pride govern over his actions. Analogous to most tragedies, pride is what leads to Oedipus’ tragic downfall. As opposed to acting on reason, Oedipus relies on his own emotions. The main goal of Oedipus is to end the plague of Thebes. Teiresias, the blind seer, arrives in order to assist Oedipus to find out who murdered Laius. After Teiresias refuses to answer …show more content…
Oedipus proclaims to the public that if they know anything about the murder of Laius, they are to tell him immediately (1532). While doing this, Oedipus attempts to be godlike and really is boasting what he can do just because he is king. Oedipus changes within the play Oedipus the King. Initially, Oedipus is blind metaphorically in finding the murderer. At the same moment, Oedipus was blind to the prophecy and had little to no idea that the prophecy even existed. As Oedipus the King develops, Oedipus begins to realize the verisimilitude of what the prophecy dictated. Once a herdsman explains to Oedipus that Laius and Jocasta had a son who was sent into hiding, Oedipus began to formulate the prophecy and started to comprehend that the prophecy is real and accurate (1556). Finally, Oedipus realizes that he has caused the pollution within Thebes. Oedipus needs to either die or be exiled from Thebes in order to end the plague. Oedipus then becomes physically blind after stabbing his eyes out with Jocasta’s pins.
Oedipus is a dynamic character that realizes his true fate. Oedipus’ emotions controlled him; his pride consumed him and blinded him. With facing the facts, Oedipus could not handle what he did not want to hear. Like most tragedies, pride can be the downfall of the
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