Oedipus is truly a character defined by tragedy. In Sophocles' story, Oedipus is cursed at birth. Jocasta, his mother, reveals that a prophesy was foretold at his birth indicating that Oedipus would murder his own father, Lauis. Oedipus as a King was very stubborn when it came to these prophesies and would simply not believe that he was the reason for the ills that plagued Thebes. Oedipus' stubborn nature was what Aristotle would call Oedipus' tragic flaw. Indeed, Aristotle believed that tragic figures had these flaws that helped define them. Oedipus was so stubborn that he would blame his own brother-in-law for some of the wretched prophesies that were made concerning Oedipus. He would also refrain from believing them until they began to reveal themselves as truth. Oedipus was a tragic figure not only because of his revealed cursed prophesy at birth but also because of his incestial marriage with his own mother. This action was terribly tragic for Oedipus and highlights just how disturbing and perhaps cursed Oedipus had been. Oedipus also soon found out that he was lied to his entire life and that his true father was indeed Laius, a man who he killed just as the initial prophesy unraveled. Oedipus was a tragic figure from the beginning and had a tragic flaw of stubbornness. I suppose one moral that may be taken from such a story may be that human beings should not deal with the supernatural like these characters did through oracles whom were supposedly channeling Gods.
Stubbornness is always called a flaw; however, it can also be a strength. Nobody ever recognizes this fact though. I do not think that Stubbornness was what led to his downfall.
ReplyDeleteIt was not only his stubbornness, but I believe that it was a number of things that led to his downfall. I, personally, thought his Stubbornness was the tragic flawed Aristotle refrences and I did not see too many strengths in his attitude. (at least not in Oedipus' case)
ReplyDeleteI like the second picture that you have. I seams to me that the sphinx is skipped over a lot. I question the artist though; I thought that the sphinx had the body of a lion. This obviously has the body of a woman.
ReplyDeleteYour posts are so colorful. But don't recap the story for us. I do agree, though, that Oedipus was a tragic character.
ReplyDeleteTo Joshua: I agree, but poetry is often open to interpretation and not necessarily dependent upon one's opinion. To Mike: Thanks again, I did not want to summarize the story but I wanted to simply answer the question with a concise answer.
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