Examples Of Arrogance In Oedipus The King

Because of his arrogance and pride, when facts were presented to him that clearly showed he guilt, he ignored them. He ignored Teiresias. Teiresias told Oedipus, “you are the murderer whom you seek” (Scene I, 20). Teiresias clearly told Oedipus that he was the killer, but Oedipus ignored him, and accused Teiresias of infamy. Not matter what Teiresias said, and even though he was a seer, Oedipus still didn’t believe him when he said that Oedipus was the killer. Oedipus knew that Laios was killed in the same place that he killed a man. Jocaste told Oedipus that Laios was killed “at a place where the Theban Way/ Divides into the roads toward Delphi and Daulia” (Scene II, 39). Oedipus knew that Laios was killed at the place he killed a group of

Oedipus found out Polybos wasn’t his father. The shepherd that gave Oedipus to Polybos informed Oedipus that, “Polybos was not your father” (Scene III, 53). This made Oedipus realize that his father wasn’t his real father, and start to consider the possibility that Laios might be his father. This would mean that he did fulfill the prophecy, after all. Oedipus found out that the shepherd saved him when he was a child, and that is where he gets his name from. When Oedipus asked the shepherd what he was saved from the shepherd responds, “your ankles should tell you that” (Scene II, 54). This proves that the shepherd was the one to save Oedipus because he knew about Oedipus’s ankles, and the fact that, his ankles were where he got his named from. This made Oedipus start to question who tried to kill him, and if it was his father or mother, due to the prophecy. This lead Oedipus to send for the other shepherd, so he could get answers. Oedipus’s suspicions were confirmed when he found out that Laios was his father. The shepherd said that “King Oedipus was once that little child” that King Laios attempted to have killed (Scene III, 61). This was the final confirmation to Oedipus that Laios was in fact his father, meaning that Jocaste was his mother, and Oedipus was doomed. This was the moment in the play where Oedipus realized what he had done wrong, who his was, and his crimes, or anagnorisis. This moment was public and that

Tragedy yields irony, and Oedipus Rex is no exception to this rule. There was dramatic irony in the play, because the audience knew the backstory of Oedipus but neither Oedipus, Jocaste, nor the people of Thebes knew. The audience knew that the murderer Oedipus was trying to find is himself. Also, Oedipus showed dramatic irony, when he says the murderer might come after him, when the audience knows he was the killer. There is also tragic irony when Oedipus pledged to exile or kill the murderer. This just means getting revenge for the killer of Laios, however the words have an ominous meaning to the audience who has a great understanding of the situation. The audience understands that by making this statement that Oedipus was leading himself to his downfall because he was the murderer. There was situational irony too, because Oedipus ran away from Corinth to escape the prophecy, but in doing so he fulfilled it, because this lead to him killing Laios, and becoming King of Thebes. This is the opposite of what Oedipus expected to happen by running away. Being king meant that he would marry his mother, so he completed his destiny. He also blamed Creon for killing Laios when he is the killer. The last person Oedipus expected to be Laios’s killer was himself, but he was guilty, Oedipus was blind at the beginning and end of the play. In the beginning, he was blinded by his pride, and