Throughout the play “Oedipus the King”, there are many different characteristics that Oedipus embodies, which I want to explain further in this analysis. It is interesting to see how much his character transforms from the beginning to the end of the play as his mission changes, but essentially remaining the same person. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus acts as a confident, courageous hero, but later on acts in denial and accepts his own fate. By Sophocles utilizing various characteristics of Oedipus, the readers grasp different aspects of both his positive and negative qualities, along with their corresponded actions. In the beginning of the play, even though Oedipus is not a native of Thebes, he still chooses to solve the Sphinx riddle. He answers the riddle correctly, freeing the city from this evil sphinx. This is the first occurrence that he is portrayed as being courageous and bold. If he would’ve answered the riddle incorrectly, he could’ve died, however; he chose to sacrifice himself in order to stop the plague that has come over the city. The priest states “You freed us from the sphinx, you came to Thebes and cut …show more content…
For example, Oedipus states, “You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers. Come – listen to me – do what the plague demands.”(L 245 – 246) Being that his people idealize him, they accept this dialect from Oedipus the King even though his actions seem to be self-interested and egoistic. We see another change in his character when he is talking to the people and says, “If I’d been present then, there would have been no mystery, no long hut without a clue in hand”, which is very ironic because he was there when this took place (L249 – 251). This shows how Oedipus is no longer all for the people of Thebes, but now his actions and energy are going towards a new mission, which is finding the