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Examples Of Hubris In Oedipus

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In the play, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the hubris depicted by Oedipus is visible from the beginning when he is sent away to be killed, up to when he kills his father and marries his mother, He is too ignorant to realize his mistake, He calls upon others to show him the way from his “blindness”, till when he realizes his mistake, pokes out his eyes when he sees his mother hang herself, and moves to Kithiron to live out the rest of his life in agony. All these instances show the use the hubris within Oedipus. Hubris means, excessive pride or self-confidence toward oneself, leading to their demise.

As soon as Laois and his wife Iocaste have a child named Oedipus, they go to the Oracle to see what their child fate is destined to be. When the …show more content…

Meanwhile Oedipus had summoned the shepherd that had given the other shepherd/messenger the baby he was supposed to kill. When Oedipus first questioned him, he refrained from answering, but eventually he broke and told him the truth about how he got the baby, from the king and queen of Thebes, where and to who he gave the baby, the shepherd in Kithairon. Finnall, Oedipus pieced all of this together only to realize that he had been sleeping with his mother the entire time! He had also killed his own father unknowingly! Ever since he was a kid, he had believed that he real parents were Polybus and Merope. That is when one of the palace servants told him about how the queen was found dead in her …show more content…

He was blind when he killed his own father, he was blind when he married his own mother, he was blind to all the bad that has been going on around him. He comes to a conclusion, he gouges his eyes out with a sharp ornament from Iocaste neck, repeatedly jabbing till he cant see no more. He calls upon Iocaste’s brother, Creon, and tells him to take over the kingdom. Oedipus decides to leave and live out the rest of his life in Kithairon. His two children/siblings, say they will go with him, but he says that this is his pain, he should be the only one that suffers it. He leaves for

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369 Words | 2 Pages

So, what is hubris any way? as defined, “excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.” Oedipus tragic flaws cause his death and leads to his downfall because of this. Throughout the story, Oedipus has felt a need to treat himself above everyone else.

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170 Words | 1 Pages

In Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ impulsive behavior and stubbornness leads to his catastrophic downfall. Oedipus “levels terrible charges” (574) at Creon because he believes that Creon conspired with Tiresias to kill King Laius. Instead of proceeding “calmly” and “rationally” (652), Oedipus accuses Creon of “scheming to steal [his] crown and power” (598). Oedipus refuses to let Creon defend himself. Moreover, Oedipus does not have evidence to prove his accusations against Creon.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

In Antigone, Oedipus’s daughter Antigone sets out to bury her brother who’s considered a traitor. In doing so she is going against the new king Creon’s law, making Creon become arrogant at the moment, sentencing Antigone to death. In both Oedipus the King and Antigone the author Sophocles introduces the idea of blindness vs. sight, a tragic flaw leading to Oedipus and Creon’s downfalls. When reading the play Oedipus the King, the main character Oedipus has a noticeable flaw, the flaw of being blinded to the truth of his whole life.

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367 Words | 2 Pages

Just after Polyphemus apologize and tries to help him. This act is considered hubris or bad pride. Hubris is the opposite of respect for the gods, a Greek value. Soon after, Polyphemus curses Odysseus to never return home. Although, Odysseus had a reason for insulting Polyphemus.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

Imagine being judged for the choices you make. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and The Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry the characters in these three novels search for independence under unfortunate circumstances. This results in difficult decision making situations that they are later judged for. However, Hester confronts her sin, the Younger family moves into a white neighborhood house and the Wall’s kids move away from their abusive parents.

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1497 Words | 6 Pages

A second reinforcement of hubris by Sophocles is in Oedipus at Colonus. It is at the segment in the play when Oedipus is under host of Theseus, King of Athens, and King Creon of Thebes comes to take Oedipus for himself. Creon only wants Oedipus back from banishment because wherever Oedipus dies, there will be prosperity. However, Oedipus will not honor the city where his sons banished him from when he is not guilty. King Theseus accuses Creon of hubris and says, "I know / How guest to host ought to comport himself. /

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328 Words | 2 Pages

Since Oedipus was not aware of who his biological parents were, he was not truly guilty of killing his father and sleeping with his mother. The Greeks strongly believed in a person’s fate. They believed that no matter what a person does, there is no escaping his or her fate. Although Oedipus technically committed the crimes of killing his father and sleeping with his mother, he is not guilty of these because he unknowingly did these

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626 Words | 3 Pages

Hubris is the overbearing pride or presumption, arrogance. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, Creon being also the king of Thebes after the death of Oedipus, and Antigone the daughter of the late king Oedipus. In the plays, Oedipus the King and Antigone, Sophocles, the author, explains to the readers how hubris led to the downfall of Oedipus, Antigone, and Creon. In the play, Oedipus, Sophocles informs the readers how Oedipus pride led him to his downfall.

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977 Words | 4 Pages

Yet, what is hubris exactly? Hubris is just another word to describe arrogant or over-prideful, which Oedipus definitely was. After finding out that he had really committed the crimes which his prophecy had predicted, he stated “Oh God! I think I have called down upon myself a dreadful curse not knowing what I did!” As shown, he even realizes what grave consequences followed his life of incest.

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947 Words | 4 Pages

Although he feels a slight remorse, Oedipus remains ignorant to his own reality. Before and after he loses his sight, he still fails acknowledge the consequences of his actions. He knows he is the reason for the death of his mother and father, but he blinds himself so he cannot see the horrors of mistakes. His blindness prevents him from seeing the reality in which he lives in. He is no longer a powerful and courageous leader, but only a man suffering from a terrible fate.

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1378 Words | 6 Pages

The symbolic implication that comes of Oedipus blinding himself is he has seen too much evil and would rather see nothing than more evil. “What’s there left for me to see…?” P.44 Oedipus here say he has seen too much and that what he has seen will taint everything he sees thereafter. I do not find this courageous nor heroic, I believe blinded himself to not see what he had done, to not be reminded of his deeds, even by seeing his

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686 Words | 3 Pages

The blindness of having the eyesight but cannot see and the blindness of poking his eyes so as not to see again the social evils that he had done (Calame, 1996). His metaphorical blindness came out of pride, ignorance and as a result of the people who knows the truth and hide it from him. The second bit of his blindness comes out of shame that makes him want to avoid seeing the cause of his actions. Comparing Teiresias and Oedipus the King, Teiresias has the insight and knowledge when Oedipus has eyesight without knowledge that is termed as ignorance (Calame, 1996). Oedipus out of pride and ability to see feels that he knows the truth while he is far from the truth.

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1063 Words | 5 Pages

First, he was blind to the truth about his own life. Oedipus had no idea that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, he was so blind that he got mad at anyone that would even suggest an idea such as that. As the story went on though, Oedipus could no longer run from the truth; he was forced to open his eyes to the reality and truth of his life. Oedipus killed his father and married his mother; he is the brother to his own kids and the son of his own mother. Oedipus was the one that was causing all of the downfall and bad times in Thebes.

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1224 Words | 5 Pages

But, he was also a good man, father, husband, and king, and for this reason he is mourned over for his loss of fortune. One of the themes in Oedipus Rex is physical and metaphorical blindness. In Greek culture, those who were physically blind were said to have metaphorical "vision" and were messengers of the gods. For example, In the beginning, Oedipus is blind, not physically, but metaphorically because he does not know the

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686 Words | 3 Pages

Oedipus is blinded by his own personal and selfish views, that he cannot bring himself to listen to what others have to say. Oedipus

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