Examples Of Pride In Oedipus The King

Oedipus and His Pride Pride, one of the seven deadly sins, is all forms of media. In literature, one of the best examples of pride is in the story Oedipus the King. The cursed King of Thebes, Oedipus, was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, but his pride made him believe that he was going to be fine when he left his adoptive mother and father in Corinth. Eventually, as it always does, pride caught up to him. Hubris, extreme pride towards the gods, is one of the conflicts that Oedipus has to face. An inner conflict of Man vs Self is happening to Oedipus. In his first monologue, Oedipus’ pride and arrogance is apparent. Oedipus states, “Here I am myself--you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (Sophocles 7-9).

Oedipus’ pride made him reject the very idea the he killed Laius, his birth father, or married Jocasta, his birth mother. Oedipus’ states, “But now, all those prophecies I feared--Polybus packs them off to sleep with him in hell! They’re nothing, worthless” (Sophocles 1062-1064). Oedipus’ insults the gods by saying that all the prophecies that were supposed to come true are worthless now that his father is dead. Since the gods play a significant role in Greek culture, his hubris is affecting his character by going against his and Greek culture's morals because he believes he is almighty and does not need the gods. When confronted about the plague being caused by the killer of Laius being in the city, Oedipus swears to rid the city of this killer, and he curses himself until he finds him. Even when told a miniscule part of the story of his birth, he still wants to know the full story. Sophocles writes, “I count myself the son of Chance, the great goddess, giver of all good things--I’ll never see myself disgraced” (Sophocles 1188-1190). Oedipus’ hubris is making him believe he will never be disgraced, as he is the in good standing with the goddess Chance. Pride affects his thoughts and emotions when confronted with the truth to believe he could never be disgraced. Consequently, this takes a toll on him when the truth is finally brought out. His response to the news is not delightful. Sophocles states, “He rips off her brooches...looking straight up into the points, he digs them down the sockets of his eyes, crying ‘You, you’ll never see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused’” (Sophocles 1402-1407). His pride creates this reaction. He chose to carve out his eyes because he was already blind to the all the pain and suffering he caused. Furthermore, he realizes that he killed his father and married his mother causing a plague to destroy Thebes, the city he thought he rescued from the pits