The play written by Sophocles portrays Oedipus as a tragic hero in Greek mythology. Can Oedipus really be described as a tragic hero, or did the passion of his own desires set his fate upon him? We learn that Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father, and thereby bring disaster on his city and family. Essentially, the Oedipus complex according to the World English Dictionary, states that a group of emotions (usually unconscious) involving the desire of a child (especially a male child) to hold sexually the parent of the opposite sex while excluding the parent of the same sex. In simple wording, a young boy who has feelings for his mother’s attributes, and shows cold emotions to his father, because his father has his mother’s attention, which the young boy wishes. Within the play Oedipus kills his father unbeknown to him, and marries his mother. In my opinion this suggests that even though Oedipus was unaware of his actions, his fate still directed him towards wanting his mother, Jocasta and disregarding/ killing his father, Laius. Therefore, causing him not to be a tragic hero, but a man who had an unfortunate destiny awaiting him.
"Oedipus complex." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 15 Apr. 2014. Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oedipus complex
I like the way you describe Oedipus as a tragic hero. Speaking about tragic hero, I want to talk about this tragic hero instead of Oedipus Complex here. Throughout the book, one of the biggest conflicts is that human against nature (god). Oedipus's birth parents (Laius and Jocasta) did everything they could do to stop the tragedy. And so did Oedipus. It turned out that everything they did was useless. Humans cannot control their own destinies. His tragedy shows that everything goes under God’s control, reflecting the importance of individuals in the negative way. It was later developed into renaissance humanism in 15th century. The importance of individuals was first time advocated, showing the value of his tragedy. Under Sophocles' words, he is the hero, sacrificing himself and inspiring the readers.
ReplyDeleteDo you think this was fate that made him do this, or do you think that it was just pure luck? In my opinion, fate is something that society has made up in order to cover up the mistakes that happened along the way. I don't believe that everyone has a certain fate or destiny and that we were put here to do just that. A fate of marrying your mother and killing your father is an awful fate. But if you really believe in that sort of stuff then don't kill anyone, and certainly don't marry a women who's husband just died.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you stated that Oedipus is not a tragic hero. Who kills a man because he was blocking a path? I'm sure it wasn't very developed back then so why not go around the path. I'm sure theres tons of land to walk on. Also, if you are trying not do follow this Oracle then why kill someone in the first place. This novel has a good story line but there are many flaws which bother me quite a lot as you could probably notice. In my opinion, a hero is not someone who kills anyone, especially not a man who was willing to kill his own mother or wife.