Oedipus The King Essay, Research Paper
Oedipus: King Of Riddles?
In Greek mythology the prophets or Gods are seldom incorrect in their
anticipations of the hereafter. Yet the characters still seek to contend the
anticipations. Do their personalities and traits decide their hereafter, or does
destiny take its class no affair what? Oedipus was a astute adult male furnished
with humor and mind, yet his deficiency of penetration ( the ability to see and
understand clearly the interior nature of himself ) and his haughtiness led to
his death, non destiny.
Oedipus & # 8217 ; s aret? ( an exceeding ability or gift ) was unknoting
conundrums, and work outing any mystifiers with easiness. He had a excess of the
aptitude to look outward, but unluckily he had a lack of the
ability to look inward. This endowment of looking outward made him renowned
for decoding conundrums and enigmas. Yet when Tiresias appears and speaks
in conundrums, Oedipus can non work out them because of his deficiency of penetration.
Tiresias & # 8217 ; s conundrums are clear in what they province, but Oedipus can non
understand them because he doesn & # 8217 ; t cognize himself good plenty. Tiresias
conveys,
All ignorant! And I refuse to associate my vocalization with a ruin
such as yours. ( Pg.42 ) At this point in the drama, Oedipus still can non
perceive who the liquidator of King Laius is, even though the conundrum is
obvious. Oliver 2 Oedipus has the ability to grok the conundrums, but
he won & # 8217 ; t let himself to accept the truth. When Oedipus saved Thebes from
The Sphinx, he answered this hard mystifier. The Sphinx demanded, What
animal is it that walks on four pess in the forenoon, on two at midday, and
on three in the eventide? With his high command of conundrums and holding an
unfastened head, Oedipus replied, It is Man. As a kid he crawls on four. When
he grows up he walks unsloped on his two pess, and in old age he leans
on a
staff.1 This mystifier is far more complex than Tiresias & # 8217 ; s rudimentary
conundrums, so Oedipus has the ability to work out the conundrums but can non allow
himself do so, because of his ostentation. Oedipus is so chesty that he
can & # 8217 ; t believe that he could perchance hold done anything incorrect. He suffered
from the wickedness of hubris. That is, he was really conceited, and conceited. No affair
how straightforward Tiresias & # 8217 ; s conundrums were, Oedipus & # 8217 ; s pride wouldn & # 8217 ; t allow
him work out them. Finally, Tiresias came right out and said what he meant
without a conundrum, and Oedipus still couldn & # 8217 ; t accept that he did anything
incorrect. Tiresias merely stated, I say, you murdered the adult male whose liquidator
you require. ( Pg.37 ) Following that comment from Tiresias, Oedipus shielded
himself by impeaching his brother in jurisprudence, Creon ( his uncle in world ) , of
coercing these innuendos from Tiresias. Of class, this wasn & # 8217 ; t true, it
was merely a authoritative illustration of Oedipus & # 8217 ; s haughtiness seeking to support itself.
Oedipus & # 8217 ; s termination was caused merely because of his haughtiness and his
deficiency of ego cognition. He didn & # 8217 ; t understand himself good plenty. He could
unravel any enigma besides
Oliver 3 his ain being.
All of his life Oedipus had solved enigmas and mystifiers about
topics other than himself. Now that he was faced with conundrums impeaching
him of something, his ain haughtiness kept him from the truth. Oedipus would
have solved Tiresias & # 8217 ; s riddles outright if it weren & # 8217 ; T for his pride,
and deficiency of penetration.
Finally, the truth is forced on Oedipus with outstanding grounds,
presented by the courier, and the shepherd, so he must accept his
fate. Was he non able to work out Tiresias & # 8217 ; s conundrums because his haughtiness
wouldn & # 8217 ; t let him to, or did he acknowledge the replies instantly, his
amour propre non leting him to admit the truth?