Tragedy_Of_Oedipus

Tragedy Of Oedipus In the tragedy Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, the main character was Oedipus. At the beginning of the tragedy Oedipus was presented as hero who was arrogant and overly confident. The story tells how Oedipus experienced a tragedy in his life which humbled his character. When the kingdom was troubled by a plague, a priest came to Oedipus requesting his help. The priest referred to Oedipus as a hero when he said, “You cannot equal the gods, your children know that, bending at your altar. But we do rate you first of men, both in the common crises of our lives and face-to-face encounters with the gods” (39-43). He went on to say, “Your country calls you savior now for your zeal, your action years ago” (59-60). An example of Oedipus’ arrogance was when the Chorus called upon the gods to save them from the plague. Oedipus seemed to believe that he was greater than any supernatural being or god when he appeared before the Chorus and told them, “You pray to the gods' Let me grant your prayers” (245). As the tragedy unfolded, Oedipus became oedipus, creon, pride, after, tragedy, let, gods, chorus, truth, son, humbled, wife, way, suicide, say, said, doom, character, became, wrong, trust, tragic, told, tiresias, sophocles, realized, priest, presented, plague, oedipus’, now, man, king