Saturday, January 25, 2014
And despite all of that, he's a hero?
So, after reading the end of Oedipus Rex, we wonder about the king. According to Aristotle, Oedipus is a tragic hero. Is he heroic? Why or why not? What specifically does he do in Exodus (identify three different actions) and is that enough to make him heroic? What do you think? Your answer should be one 8-10 sentence paragraph.
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I do not think that, despite what happened in the Exodus, that Oedipus is a hero. In my view he is not a hero but he is a tragic hero. What happened in the Exodus, Oedipus becoming blind and him mother hanging herself, is all because of him. It was out of his controle but he was still the protagonist in these tragedies which makes him a tragic hero. My definition of a hero is someone who does good beyond what the average person would do and Oedipus does not display any heroic behavior. In the last chapter he asks for a sword so that he can kill his wife after he found that she had left him to die. Then he stabbed himself in the eye so that he could not see the children he made with his wife. Both those things are not heroic. The one good thing he did was exile himself but I do not thing that it is enough for him to be considered heroic.
ReplyDeleteI do not consider Oedipus a hero, however I do consider him a tragic hero. In the Exodus, Oedipus became blind after seeing that his wife/mother left him. Oedipus couldn't live through the punishment of living and seeing his children that he made with his mother. So, he blinded himself which wasn't really fair because he brought this onto himself, and it got out of control. I feel that if a leader can't live through his own punishment, then what can a leader live through? So, that is one reason why I don't consider Oedipus a hero. The second action that happened in the Exodus, was Oedipus asking for a sword. He wasn't able to handle the pain, since his mother/wife killed herself. Also, this all started when Oedipus recieved the prophecy of him being the murderer of his own father. So once he left and never went back, he managed to kill the previous King of Thebes and take his place. But with Oedipus's reactions at the "accident" made the town sick with the plague that he caused, which definitely isn't an action that a hero makes. The last action that makes me consider Oedipus as a tragic hero is when he explains, "Death take the man who unbound My feet on that hillside." (pg. 73) Oedipus was blaming the shepherd who unbounnded his ankles and saved his life, which shows that he isn't grateful. However, Oedipus did manage to solve the riddle which was a big step for many people. But, in my eyes, a hero is someone that should always be inspiring and looked up to, but with a hero sleeping with his own mother, then making himslef blind, and not being grateful of someone that saved their own life, definietly makes me feel like it is not enough to be a hero.
ReplyDeleteI do not consider Oedipus a hero but I don't think its because of what happened in Exodus. Oedipus never did anything heroic. If anything he was a villain because he killed the king out of rage. I don't think that Oedipus was ever a hero. The only act you could consider heroic is solving the riddle of the sphinx and that isn't very heroic. He just solved a riddle.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe oedipus is a hero. Although he may have solved the sphinx's riddle, he is made of shame and disgrace. For example, he tried to not fulfill a prophecy. The prophecy that foretold him doing shameful and disgraceful things, specifically killing his father and lying with his mother. In exodus, he stabs his eyes out, visits the elders, and resigns to exile himself as opposed to death. This is less shameful but he still, in a symbolic attempt to rid himself of the truth he craved, gouged out both his eyes.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Oedipus is a tragic hero. Though he does exile himself to lift the plague, it does not excuse of what he did in the past. He had killed his father and married his mother by trying to outsmart the gods and their prophecy. He does solve the riddle of the sphinx that stops the first plague, but that doesn’t make him a hero if he was the cause of a second plague. Even though I think that Oedipus wasn’t a tragic hero, he had still learned his lesson and grew from his flaws. And in the end he did what was right by exiling himself to stop the plague, even after he blinded himself.
ReplyDeleteI do not consider Oedipus a hero, despite all that he had done for Thebes, and because of the Exodus. In the exodus, he proclaims that he must be exiled or killed, because of his actions, and the prophecy coming true. I do not think this is heroic, because he doesn't want to face his people, and he wants to just run away from his problems. I also think that he is not heroic, because he stabbed out his eye sockets, so he could not see. I think that this was a sign of weakness, and that it is showing that he is too embarrassed to see the world. Even though Oedipus solved the riddle of the sphinx, and saved Thebes from a plague, long ago, his actions, like killing his father, and marrying and having children with his mother, counter them. Although it is not his fault, about the prophecy and he can’t control it, but the book shows, that when Oedipus heard the prophecy he ran away, from his home Corinth, so I think this shows weakness, also because. I think that Oedipus is more of a tragic hero. This is because, some of his actions he can’t control, due to the prophecy, but I wouldn’t say that he is heroic.
ReplyDeleteI consider Oedipus to be a hero. I also consider him a tragic hero. The first way Oedipus was a hero was by trying to avoid his prophecy and leaving his parents. That was a clever move but that only worsened his condition. I think showing the Gods people can evade their own prophecies is a very brave and heroic move. He was a hero to his people and his city by solving the riddle and lifting the plague. It was a heroic to act to continue to solve the riddle even though many told him it would not have a good result. He kept on proceeding because he wanted to save his city. That alone is a heroic act to me. In Exodus Oedipus stabs his eyes out with needles from his wives dress. He did this as a punishment because killing himself would not severe enough for him to feel accepted by his parents again. Next, he self exiled himself from his own city. He kept his word and did what he said that he would do to the murderer. Lastly, he gave his spot and kids over to Creon. This was a brave act because he had to trust someone with raising his kids. I think Oedipus could have easily have hid the truth from the people and continued life as king. Coming forward and accepting his consequences shows that Oedipus is a hero.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Oedipus killed his own father, his actions at the end of Exodus convinced me to believe that Oedipus is a heroic hero. In Exodus, Oedipus took responsibility for his mistakes and the pain he caused to others. Oedipus stabs himself in the eyes as a punishment for his actions. It is heroic that Oedipus chose to harm himself rather than kill himself which would have caused less pain. Another heroic action was when Oedipus accepted that Creon would become the new king. Oedipus did not persuade Creon to let him continue to be king, and instead recognized that Creon was to be the next king of Thebes. Finally, the action that most represents a hero, is when Oedipus decides that he must be exiled and sent away from Thebes. Oedipus does this because it is the only way to end the plague. Hence, Oedipus showed that he would be willing to leave Thebes and sacrifice himself to benefit the people of Thebes. Granted, Oedipus committed an unjustified killing of his own father, but one must remember the killing was destined to happen. The noble and heroic actions after the killing are what lead me to believe that Oedipus is a heroic hero.
ReplyDeleteBased on what happened throughout the story in especially the Exodus, I do not believe Oedipus is a tragic hero. Although he was able to solve the riddle of the sphinx and end the first plague that had fell upon Thebes he ended up being the cause of the second plague that caused suffering and great loss to the people of Thebes. He killed his own father as well as other innocent people out rage which just proves he has anger issues. As well as all of this, once he found out he ended up marrying is own mother, he had every intention it looks like to go kill her as he goes to find her with a sword until he finds she has already killed herself. The only thing he did right was ask for Creon to take care of his daughter and to take pity in his children because they don't have parents anymore and exile himself from Thebes. All this being said, Oedipus in my mind is not a tragic hero but a miss guided king who lost his way and finally see's his wrongs and is trying to do right.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of hero is "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities" by definition Oedipus is a hero he saved his people. A brave act, a act that caused self exile. The relentless hunt for the truth ended up hurting himself. Just because definition says your something it doesn't always mean its true. Oedipus was a coward, he was to scared to see the world, face his family and face his people he blinded himself. Even though he was a coward he still was a strong man, he asked Creon to watch after his kids. He did also rise up in times of trouble and help his people. He could've just gone against his word and never have the plague lifted off of his people but he was honest he stayed true to himself. After reading the book Im not sure what I would call Oedipus. He shows both acts of being a coward and also heroic acts as well. One thing that really showed that he was a hero was the restraint to not take his own life. He wanted to have to live a life where every day he would have to think about how he did wrong and deal with the problems instead of ending his life and not having to deal with anything. It all depends in whos eyes you look at him but I think that he was a hero.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest things Oedipus does that could be seen as heroic is beg for Creon to send him out of Thebes so that the plague will be lifted. Near the end of the chapter Oedipus says “ But you must promise- [...] Send me from Thebes!” In this chapter he also begs Creon, not to save him but to take care of his children. He says “Take care of them, Creon; do this for me.” One last thing he does that could be seen as heroic is he wants to stand in front of the people, and let them see that he is the one who caused all of this. I think that these things do make Oedipus brave and that they are heroic. These three things do make it seem like he cares more about other people that his wellbeing. On the other hand he does seem extremely self pitying in this scene, which to me is a sign of cowardness.
ReplyDeleteI think Oedipus is still very much a tragic hero. He has suffered more hardships in a small amount of time than most will bear in their whole lifetimes. Although tragic, his heroism definitely shines through when he asks to see his daughters again and hold their hands. He understands that life will become difficult for them after he leaves and tries to comfort them by leaving Creon as their godfather. It is possible to say that it was heroic not in the act of blinding himself, but rather in the act of keeping himself alive at all. Much of the entire Exodus is simply Oedipus wondering why he is still alive and explaining all of the reasons why the gods hate him and he should be dead. The third action that could be considered heroic was when Oedipus stabbed himself in the eyes. This action may also be viewed as weakness, but the fact that he took it upon himself to self punish as he saw fit was a noble thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI think that Oedipus is not a hero. He simply did what he was expected to do. He would have been better off if he had followed the gods instructions and then stayed where he was. He tried to avoid this. I think that if he had trusted more in the people around him (his Corinth parents) he would have been happier. Instead he went in search for answers that were not really his to seek. When we found out the truth and didn't like he tried to change it which made it worse. In the end he has to live with what he had done. This is not heroic its just dealing with your consequences. I don't think we should celebrate mediocrity.
ReplyDeleteIn Oedipus the king, He self-exiles himself to lift the plague. But i don't see this as heroic because all he did was solve his own problems that he started. He will sacrifice his life in Thebes to save everyone else. So he really hasn't been heroic, all hes done is solve the riddle.
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