Oedipus Essay, Research Paper

battles against Centaurs, Amazons, also friezes of Athena figthing the giants. Interestingly these sculptures are all of either battle or celebrations, this in way show cased the Athenian ambitions.

Pericles of Athens and The Birth of Democracy

Donald Kagan

The free press 1991

Art and text in Ancient Greek culture

Goldhill & Osborne

Cambridge university press 1994

“Oedipus” is the quintessential Greek tragedy, in a classical tragedy the character is from a distinguished or unusual back ground, a good person with a fatal flaw that brings about his or her down fall. So was Oedipus’ fatal flaw his pride or was it just his fate that damned him, I would say that while the Greek idea of fate is immutable that Oedipus is still not without blame for the out come.

By Greek standards Oedipus was not especially arrogant in speech but in his actions he was. ” Was Oedipus arrogant in deed, in a way which might suggest that wealth and prosperity has gone to his head? (Sophocles; an interpetation,1980). Throughout the play Oedipus is arrogant in the way that he has no fear of justice h instantly assumes that he is without reproach which helps to lead to his downfall, an example of this when Creon the seer informs Oedipus that he is the curse on the land, Oedipus automatically explodes at the seer calling him a fraud without stopping a moment to consider that the seer might be accurate. Oedipus is so sure of himself that he swears curses down on the murderer, unknowingly cursing himself.

Futher more in the act of gouging his eyes out Oedipus says

” No more, no more shall you look on the misery about me,

The horrors of my own doing! Too long you have known

The faces of those whom I should never have seen,

Too long blind to those for whom I was searching!

From this hour, go in darkness! (Sophocles 830)

In this quote Oedipus is blaming himself for his actions, he does not blame thefates for it but himself for not seeing the clues.