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Oedipus The King

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Recommended: Literary analysis of oedipus the king character

In Aristotle’s Poetics, he states what he believes, what a perfect tragedies characteristic were. Aristotle said that for a perfect tragedy were: imitation of an action, the constituent parts if tragedy, the plot and character. To Aristotle the tragedy has to be a story to which is realistic and has a pin-point focus. To Aristotle the tragic hero has to be a man who has misfortune. The tragic hero must also pass from happiness to misery, must belong to a distinguished family and has achieved greatness and had a fall of greatness, must not be evil, cannot be perfectly just or virtuous, he must have a great downfall because of his error in judgement, and he must discover/ recognize his error in judgement. To Aristotle, Oedipus the King, is the perfect tragedy in his opinion.
Aristotle believes that Oedipus signified the most perfect tragic hero and …show more content…

With this tragedy it shows the dramatic irony this can happen when the tragic hero will try to change his fate, however the audience knows the tragic outcome of what will happen. When Oedipus’ true parents find out the fate of their son of killing the father and marrying the mother, they send him away to the side of a mountain and pin his heels together so he would die. Therefore, their son would not be able to marry the mother and kill the father. People cannot change their fate, it has to happen and the audience knows that. Therefore, there was extreme dramatic irony when that happened and the audience knows that their son will end up marrying the mother and killing the father even though they tried to get rid of their son. Another place in the tragedy where there is dramatic irony is when Oedipus and his mother/wife Jokasta are talking and Jokasta states, “he was tall with some gray salting his hair. He looked then not very different from you now” (227). Another example of the outrageous dramatic irony that is found in this tragic play is that Oedipus vows to kill whoever

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Oedipus Rex is one of the many examples that maintains the major characteristics of a literary tragedy. Based upon the ideas of Aristotle, Oedipus Rex is an outstanding example of tragedy because it depicts the suffering

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From the beginning Oedipus was destined to fulfill a terrible prophecy, but through particular events that follow the steps of the Hero’s Journey, Oedipus becomes a powerful king of Thebes, only to be destroyed by the prophecy that should have ended his life as a child. The Hero’s Journey typically leads to self-confidence and power, however; the Hero’s Journey of Oedipus leads to his tragic demise. The Hero’s Journey lays out the steps of Oedipus’s future actions, which create suspense, fear, pity, and other emotions that captivates the audience. Similar to many famous stories, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles in 430 B.C., follows the Hero’s Journey path, which is evident in Oedipus’s departure, initiation, and return.

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Dramatic irony is where the reader knows something that the character does not. Throughout the story, Oedipus makes many comments unknowingly as mentioned on page 1250 line 63 when he says to the Priest, “Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I.” Oedipus is completely unaware of everything that is going on. He does not realize that he is the one committing the crimes. On page 1251 line 109,

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This is dramatic irony since we know who the killer of the king was and Oedipus does not. This example also facilitates the understanding of tragedy since Oedipus thinks he did not do anything wrong and is trying to improve the situation, when he was the one who caused the king’s death on the first place. It is also tragic because he does not know that the King was his father, and the queen who he is married to at the moment, Iocaste, is his mother. In Teiresias’ claim, he talks about some traits presented in Oedipus that not even Oedipus knew about himself.

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Eliana Lothrop Ms. Cook English 10 Honors 11 May 2023 The Use of Irony in Oedipus the King In the book Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, irony is used in many ways to engage the audience by bringing out different reactions throughout the play since most people already knew the story. The plot follows Oedipus, the king of Thebes, as he uncovers the truth of his own terrible crimes of murder and incest.

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This work by Sophocles is based on one person who has been lied to for his whole entire life. Oedipus is the person that this is named after. When he was a child his father Laius and his mother Jocasta had a child, but sent him to be killed because the prophesies told the father that one day this child would kill him and sleep with his wife. Now, twenty years later it become a reality one day on Oedipus journey he ended up killing servants and an old man who was the King of Thebes. After, he killed this man he went on with his life later when Oedipus he defeated the sphinx who guarded Thebes and after this he was praised by many and was placed with the honor of Kingship.

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Oedipus the King is a tragedy that was written by Sophocles that emphasizes the irony of an irony of a man who was determined to trace down, expose and punish an assassin who in turn became him. Oedipus the King is also known as Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus. The art is an Athenian play that was performed in ages approximated to be 429 BC. Oedipus the King would later in the play fulfill the prophecy that he would kill his father and later on marry his mother. There is a twist of an event in the play where Oedipus is looking for the murderer of his father to bring to a halt the series of plagues that are befalling Thebes but only to find he is in search of himself (Rado, 1956).

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The vibe in Oedipus rex is quite confusing. There are many mysteries in this story. To the prophecies of Oedipus to the mystery of the king”s death , and the solving of the confusion that goes on in this story . But, all in all it”s quite interesting and the dramatic irony keeps the story interesting and grabs the attention of the reader.

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Oedipus was a tragic hero he was seen as a great man and was king,but he fell to misfortune because of his disability to see past his pride and anger which led to his demise. By not being able to see past his pride and anger Oedipus was not able to to avoid his prophetic destiny. He was blinded by his pride and anger so much that it became his tragic flaw ultimately leading him to his

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Dramatic irony is based on the fact that the audience knows something that character does not. In this text, the audience knows the fate of Oedipus before he knows himself. Sophocles uses it very effectively to make the audience feel part of the play which forces them to watch in suspense and makes them eager to see how Oedipus reacts. By using this dramatic irony, Sophocles ensures that his plays will be interesting to an audience that already knows the story. Sophocles creates a most prominent character flaw for Oedipus in that he possesses excessive arrogance.

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The characters in Oedipus the King develop the plot and make it a complete tragedy. Oedipus, had some undesirable flaws as well as some good characteristics. Oedipus had a flaring temper that ruined his life. We all learned that having a bad attitude doesn’t get you anywhere in life. Oedipus was also arrogant, especially after defeating the Sphinx.

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