ipl-logo

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Oedipus The King, By David Grene

458 Words2 Pages

In “Oedipus the king” translated by David Grene, a dialogue between different characters in which the idea of tone, attitude, and diction is amplified throughout this text using many rhetorical strategies and shifts supporting more emphasis to the text which brings it to life, as it also provides the tools for the audience to live through the text, and live through it’s reality. In the beginning as Oedipus mentions “I pity you, children” in a way it conveys not the the idea of sympathy, but the idea of sharing pain or close emotional feeling; providing the idea that words are often very good vehicles of communication. Oedipus uses children as a hook to grab people’s attention providing a patronizing yet audacious tone. As the text goes on Oedipus questions the priest “Why do you sit here with suppliant crowns?” this question conveys the writer’s support of the main idea by providing a confident yet disconcerted language. …show more content…

Within the text it is conveyed through the language of Oedipus towards the priest how Oedipus is so full of himself, very confident as he is called the great.
Moreover that confused tone provided as he questions the priest. This emphasizes the relationship between the great and the priest providing the right language to convey the speaker’s attitude to the audience. The Priest’s attitude towards Oedipus was very reverent as the priest is treating Oedipus with so much honor and respect as he says “O ruler of my country” and “Raise up our city” also using impressionable vocabulary , supporting the idea of trust. “thanks for your gracious words” an appreciative yet condescending tone. Emphasizing the great relationship of a great king and a kind priest, and how this relationship emphasizes a laudable attitude from the priest towards the

Show More
Related
224 Words | 1 Pages

For the meaningful coincidence,I remember in the book page 32 to 33, there is a paragraph. When Kafka meets Sakura on the bus, both of them agree that "even chance meetings . . . are the results of karma" and we know the things in life are fated by our previous lives, even in the smallest events there's no such thing as coincidence. So far as i know in this book, it’s talk about a 15 year old boy who ran away from home escaped a terrible to the prediction of the Oedipus complex, and maki, aging and illiterate idiot who never fully recover from the pain of the war.

Read More
711 Words | 3 Pages

Odysseus often acts intelligently to fulfill intentions of self-provided survival. Using his gift of persuasion, he manipulates others to get help when he is in difficult situations. One such instance occurs when he arrives at Crete, an unfamiliar island where he knows nothing of the people and their customs, and needs to get home. Upon being washed up into the store, he comes across the princess Nausicaa, and immediately concocts a strategy to persuade her to give him help. In his speech to nausicaa he uses many clever tactics to get her to help him (79-80).

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

This formerly brave king, now a shell of what he once was, must learn, like his son, to see the hope and treasure that being a shepherd king does for a city-state. The once dull eyes of Odysseus are now found to be gazing, in awe and amazement, at something greater than he. A prosperous and kind King Alcinous is able to demonstrate the value of caring for the people of his kingdom and the fruit he can reap because of it, an approach Odysseus never thought of

Read More
797 Words | 4 Pages

The field is freshly raked, the sun is blaring in, the game is beginning, but before she is ready, the ball is hit. With the spot light on her, she quickly stumbles over her feet and misses the ball. “Stupid rock” she mumbles under her breath. Her parents protect her with words like “good job” then she proceeds to smile. Ignorance is bliss, for some.

Read More
1656 Words | 7 Pages

When the king of a large, important city is accused of performing an assassination, it is not surprising that the townspeople are overwhelmed with emotions. In an instance like this, the majority of people go through something similar to the grieving process, in which there are several stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. When King Oedipus of the city of Thebes in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is accused of murdering their former king, Laius, the Thebans are astonished and lost. Through the incorporation of imagery, diction, and other forms of figurative language, Sophocles conveys the gradual shifting of the civilian’s feelings on what has happened and how it contributes to their perception of fate. The people undergo

Read More
1506 Words | 7 Pages

Plato’s dialogues Gorgias and Phaedrus both consider the idea of rhetoric. Rhetoric being the art or skill of getting something from the masses or individuals, and often used in getting away with a crime. The type of rhetoric being argued about in the Gorgias dialogue is public rhetoric, what exactly rhetoric is, whether it is an art or not, and how it is best used so as to promote the highest good. In the Phaedrus dialogue private rhetoric is being discussed over the issue of love. This paper will examine how eros is central to both the Gorgias and Phaedrus dialogues.

Read More
907 Words | 4 Pages

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The story raises questions for both the readers of The Odyssey and the characters it’s story contains. In Zimmerman’s work viewers experience a simplified interpretation of Homer’s grand and verbacious text. As viewers experience characters like Agamemnon, Telemachus and Calypso exhibit emotion through actors in Zimmerman’s stage direction.

Read More
1064 Words | 5 Pages

After weeks of struggle, Athena sends Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, to his father. Once Odysseus reveals his identity to his son, Telemachus questions how a low-life looking beggar could be his noble father. The unrecognizable father tells his son, “It is no hard thing for the gods of heaven to glorify a man or bring him low” (Homer 633). One can see Odysseus’ impersonation of a beggar and the proverb symbolizes a growth in character. To be brought low in the hierarchy, Odysseus experiences struggles in the commonwealth.

Read More
299 Words | 2 Pages

The use of rhetorical appeal in Oedipus the Colonus is prominent, as it paves the way for the plot of the story. In this portion of the play Oedipus tries to appeal to the audience’s emotions by forcing them to empathize with his past horrors and misfortunes. Oedipus states” I have suffered terribly, Theseus, wrongs on wrongs, no end”(ll. 670-671). Thus, evoking sadness and extreme grief those reading or watching the play.

Read More
1137 Words | 5 Pages

He is a man who is treated like a boy. Zimmerman’s script of The Odyssey informs actors’ dialog. She interprets her stage direction and dialog from Homer’s oral tradition. Zimmerman interprets Telemachus’ disrespect in Homer’s text by using overlapping dialog. Viewers and readers of Zimmerman’s text are able to see verbal disrespect as “the Suitors make loud disturbances” while he talks to Athena.

Read More
120 Words | 1 Pages

Tragedies often trigger emotional responses to audiences. It allows an individual to perceive the situation and emotionally respond to it. Sophocles uses the relationships of individuals with one another that incorporate compromise and division between the clashes of stubborn heroism and defeat. In tragedies, one many often feel pity, which can be very relatable to the reader and audiences. This can be evident in “Oedipus the King.”

Read More
1378 Words | 6 Pages

P.13 Oedipus questions Teiresias, curious to know what he knows. “Oh gruesomely clear it has all unraveled… I was bonded with the people I should have never killed.” P.40 Oedipus sees what he has done wrong and feels vulnerable and horror. The audience clearly sees that heroes are very human and how real their limitations. Most people would have felt that same vulnerability if the gods had made us their plaything and tormented us, writing a prophecy of our doom.

Read More
1095 Words | 5 Pages

With the laws of Venice miles behind them, the characters of Othello seem to have entered a Hobbesian state of nature where anything is permissible so long as it furthers the individual interest. Indeed, upon arriving in Cyprus, the majority of the characters have lives that are “poor, nasty, brutish, and short” (Hobbes 76). Othello is the perfect illustration of the dangers of rhetoric. Iago exemplified the type of rhetoric that made the Greek demagogues threatening.

Read More
409 Words | 2 Pages

Critic Northrop Frye claims that tragic heroes “seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them… Conductors may of course be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” A perfect example of this assertion would be King Oedipus in the classical tragic play “Oedipus Rex,” written by Sophocles, where Oedipus, himself, becomes the victim of his doomed fate. As someone who was born and raised of royal blood, he becomes too proud and ignorant, believing that he was too powerful for his fate. Using the metaphor “great trees [are] more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass,” Frye compares the heroic but unfortunate Oedipus to the great trees as they both are apt to experience victimization of tragic situations

Read More
1224 Words | 5 Pages

Oedipus the King is one of the most ironic plays ever written. Sophocles, the author, is a famous philosopher of the ancient times The Play is about Oedipus, the king of Thebes, who kills his father and marries his mother. An oracle warned Laius, the king of Thebes prior to Oedipus, that his son would murder him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta, had a son, he exposed the baby by first pinning his ankles together. The infant, who was adopted by King Polybus of Corinth and his wife was then brought up as their very own.

Read More

More about A Rhetorical Analysis Of Oedipus The King, By David Grene

Related Topics

Open Document