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Oedipus The King Hubris Analysis

576 Words3 Pages

People who are generally cocky and full of themselve tend to have a very horrible death and story that leads up to it. Oedipus is the king of Thebes, who can be full of himself sometimes, but it doesn't affect him in life. He has saved his city before by solving the riddle of the sphinx and he is trying to save it once again by finding out who killed the old king of Thebes, Laius. He has a way of finding out who killed him, but it to only lead to his tragic downfall. Many people think that it was hubris that caused his death but I just don't think that hubris is a logical explanation. He didn't know the truth about his life, his life and his actions were already predetermined, and he was just living life with curiosity. The first reason that hubris was not the reason Oedipus died was because he didn't know the truth of anything. He didn't know that he killed the king, let alone knew that Laius was his father. On page three Oedipus says “whoever he was that killed the king may readily wish to dispatch me with his murderous hand, so helping the dead king i help myself”(3). He is so clueless and think he is really going to find this murderer, when in reality he is talking about himself. He is not showing …show more content…

Everything that happened was suppose to happen because it was Oedipus destiny. The messenger said “it's very plain you don't know what you're doing”(15). Its as if Oedipus has not been controlling himself and has been under a spell or some such. Also after Oedipus found out he was the killer he wanted to leave town instantly. He is willing to do anything to help his city go back to normal and lift the curse.Oedipus says “take me away, and haste to the place out of the way. Take me away , my friends, the great miserable.”(21). He is ready to leave town so the curse can be uplifted. He is not being hubris, he is being generous and putting the town before

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