"Oedipus the King"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles is about Oedipus, a man doomed by his fate. It looks at how, like most tragedies, "Oedipus the King" contains a tragic hero, a heroic figure unable to escape his own doom, and how the tragic flaw that Sophocles gives Oedipus is hubris (exaggerated pride or self-confidence), which causes Oedipus to walk right into the fate he sought to escape. The paper also discusses how Oedipus' pride pushes him toward his tragic end in the initial journey, when he kills his father, in the episode of the sphinx.

From the Paper:

"On his trip away from Corinth, he unknowingly met with his father, King Laius. When Oedipus tells Jocasta of his encounter he says that he met with a carriage at an intersection and they fought over the right of way. He also mentions one man (King Laius) struck him and said that: "He [King Laius] was paid in full and ... my stick had struck him backwards from the car and he rolled out of it. And then I killed them all" (45, 1.801-13). Oedipus' pride caused him to kill his own father (unknowingly). He kept seeking for ways to avoid his destiny. This shows that he was so zealous that he thought he could avoid destiny. Also, in trying to avoid his destiny, he got into an argument over a small right of way incident. Had he just swallowed his pride and let the carriage have the right of way, he could have avoided everything. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kennedy, X.j., and Dana Gioia. Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 1285-1322.

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