Hubris in Oedipus Essay

Oedipus the King is considered atomic number 53 of the greatest classical tragedies ever written. When Sophocles wrote this great incline, he followed the design of tragedy which dictated that the sad star should embody a tragic flaw in his casing which acts as a motivation for the characters eventual d knowledgef altogether. In Oedipus the King, the tragic flaw of the plays hero, Oedipus, is centered on the concept of hubris, or extravagant and destructive pride.Oedipus, through his pride, ultimately experiences the worst tragedies that can befall an individual however, if the events of the play are examined closely, each of the tragic events can in some way be connected to Oedipus pride. unitary key example (in the myth of Oedipus which provided background for the play) is when Oedipus unknowingly murders his own father. Despite being warned by the vaticinator that he was destined to shed with his own hand his fathers blood, Oedipus quarrels with Laius on the road to Thebe s over whose wagon had the right-of-way and his ultimate anger fueled by hubris led Oedipus to unwittingly murder his own father. later solving the Sphinxs riddle and unknowingly marrying his own mother, Oedipus, as King, must face a chivy which is threatening Thebes. The plague was sent as a form of revenge by the gods because of Laiuss murder. To succor him find out the reason behind the plague, Oedipus consults a prophet named Tiresias, who is blind. When the prophet warns Oedipus to stop seeking the unfeigned murderer of Laius, Oedipuss pride leads him to suspect Tiresias of treachery and dishonesty.Even though Oedipus has been warned all along roughly hsi destiny, he continues to try to control fate and therefore becomes further and further entangled in tragedy. It is his excessive pride that drives him to refuse to listen to the wisdom of those around him, even prophets. Eventually, Oedipus says during the play that he is superior to the gods, and this is a blatant expres sion of his hubrisYou pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers (Oedipus, 254).By saying this, it is clear that Oedipus considers himself even a greater power as king than the god themselves. A central part of the impact of Oedipuss hubris is the dramatic irony which takes place in the play. The irony of Oedipus not knowing that he has murdered his own father and married his own mother and the irony that he is in fact the one accountable for the plague on Thebes and that his desire to rid the land of Laiuss murderer would lead to himself are all possible because of Oedipuss extreme pride.He is oblivious to the possibility that the oracles predictions or the rowing of the blind prophet could indicate anything other than the elevation of his own glory and strength that his eventual tragic fall actually begins simultaneously with his rise to kingship and power, with the audience seeing the irony. The reason that Sophocles created such an ironic direct of expression for the extreme hubris of Oedipus was to demonstrate to his audience that a great tragedy is always created by the inner-flaw or weakness of its main character.The Greeks regarded pride or hubris as one of the most common and dangerous of individual(prenominal) flaws and this play demonstrated for them and also for modern audiences the impact of excessive pride when carried to extreme levels of power and influence, although the lessons in condition(p) in the play are also applicable to common people in their everyday lives. By using irony, exaggeration, and an epic scale of symbols, Sophocles was able to present his audience with a frightening portrayal of the disconfirming impacts of hubris or excessive pride.