Discuss the character of Oedipus so far. What is he like? How has his hubris been shown thus far? Or, do you think he is in fact justified in his reactions thus far?
3 complete, thought-provoking, grammatically correct/spelling error-free sentences: =C
5 complete, thought-provoking, grammatically correct/spelling error-free sentences AND response to at least one peer: =B
8 or more complete, thought-provoking, grammatically correct/spelling error-free sentences AND responses to at least two peers: =A
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In the begining of the story, I thought Oedipus was a decent fellow. He convinced me that he cared about the people and that he would do anything in his power to try to save them. However, as the story progressed, i began thinking a lot about whether or not he was good. After talking to a wise man that said he, Oedipus, had killed laius, Oedipus flipped out on him and denied it all and insulted the man saying that he was dumb and non-credible. He continued on to say that his brother in law had set him up and told the wise man to say Oedipus killed him. I believe That Oedipus is worried because he is contemplating whether or not it could be him, and that his fear and power caused him to overreact and quickly point the finger to whomever he could.
Oedipus is like any king, he believes that he is always right. When he was younger, he was skeptical of his parents, and he definitely was not a perfect man because he was talking about how he might have killed King Laius. Either way he killed a man, and he shrugged it off as no big deal. His Hubris is shown so far because when the prophet accuses him of being the murderer, he immediately shifts the blame to to prophet and Creon. I do believe that Oedipus did in fact kill Laius, and I find it odd when he basically said, “Oh wait, I did murder someone!I might be the murderer!!” I am proud of him that he is a noble enough man to admit this when he figures it out. My question is though, if he finds out that he is the murderer, will he exile himself or pretend it never happened? I believe that this will reveal what character Oedipus really is.
Oedipus was a powerful king. He seemed friendly and caring like most kings, and seem like he would go to great lengths to help other people. But later proved to be somewhat selfish and full of himself. He has had some arguments with some people. Most of them were about the blame for a murder. Unsure of exactly who his parents are, he tries to search for them through out the story.
Greta,
Wow. Your blog entry is very detailed. I think it was a great idea to add a quote. That really made your statement very strong.
Oedips is very arogant and always acts cocky and thinks he is the best. I like how when Oedipus acuses his brother of trieng to dethrone him to be king his brother just says why would I want to be king I have all the power and respect of a king without the responcibilitys of being king. This was kind of funny because it realy shut him up. I especialy like reading this story because Hunter does a realy good job of being Oedips and its fun when we sing the chorius (hahahahhahah). His Hubris is shown so far because when the prophet accuses him of being the murderer, he changes the blame to the prophet and Creon. I do believe that Oedipus killed Laius, and Is weird he said, wait, I did murder someone!I might be the murderer. He is Just a weird guy and constantly wants to keep the target of his back by questioning all the other people like creon and just being realy mean. I think He is definetly the killer.
Oedipus is a very hubiris man. He is filled with pride and loves to brag. I think that he should be proud of himself, but he really over does it. I do believe he cares about the people, but I think he’s more interested in his own reputation. Oedipus is not a bad person. He just cares about himself more than others. After being accused of murdering laius, Oedipus starts falling in a state of paranoia. He balmes a old blind prhophet of murder. He than blames Creon of treason. As we read more, Oedipus’ personality and secrets will begin to show.
I agree with Hunter. Oedipus is not that bad. But as the story progresses, he starts changing. He shows that he cares more about himself and alows his pride to take controll.
Oedipus was instantly a powerful and liked King. This was because he conquered and defeated the Sphinx. This made the people loyal and respectful to Oedipus. They instantly made him King, for nobody could defeat the Sphinx. He was always hubris and prideful. So he always portrayed himself as big and mighty. Because of this hubris pride, he was as stubborn as an ox. Things were done his way. However when he duels against truth, he finds himself stuck and immovable. His past actions would affect him in his future. What he did before would come back to him later in his life. His hubris character made the largest conflict that he would ever confront. According to the story, he was told by a drunken man that his parents were not really his true blood parents. He was appalled that anybody would even say that, so he confronted his “parents” and they said that they were truly his parents. He still went to the oracle and Delphi for some more answers, and the oracles’ response was shocking. They said that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Bewildered, he headed off so that he would not intentionally do that. On his journey he confronted a herald and an old man in a carriage where three roads meet. The herald ordered that he would move off the road. Here is when Oedipus showed his true colors, and with great pride he killed everybody and continued on his journey. The old man in the carriage was the king of Thebes, King Laius. Unintentionally he killed his own father! King Laius was Oedipus’ father! He then married his mother and the oracle was true. Oedipus knew, deep down, that it was he who killed Laius. The massive conflict about “Who Killed Laius?” was now coming together, and it was difficult for Oedipus to cover it up. I think that Oedipus was very hubris yet he had wit that helped him with puzzling and reasoning. So far I am not in favor with Oedipus. Let’s see what happens later on!
Greta,
Great reasoning! You completely summed it up really well. I agree that many questions will be answered later on, and we will be able to know more about Oedipus and his character. We will see the whole picture. All your points were perfect and were easily understood. The way you present your thoughts was great. I also ponder what he will do with himself. Will he be noble, or will he be hubris? Since he is king, he could go either way on it. You did a great job, Greta.
So far, I do not think that Oedipus is a very responsible and respectable man, from what I observed. His hubris stands out like a sore thumb right now. He yells and argues to others, like Creon and Teiresias and assumes that he is too good to believe Teiresias’s ideas of him being the culprit. He thought he was wiser than the blind old prophet, which, of course, is an example of hubris. He hasn’t really justified his actions right now either. He has no reason to not believe Teiresias, but he was too arrogant, and so he just went ahead and ignored him, assuming that Teiresias was the culprit in order to clear his slate. However, once he starts to realize that he is the culprit, he starts to feel insecure and surprised. His confidence started to drain from him, and he began to believe the prophet while his ego shrunk.
Yeah Matt Oedipus is not that responsible. It seams as if he stops carring about the people completly. He’s in it for himself.
Greta,
You had some good points and I entirely agree. As an answer to your question about whether he will exile himself, I think that Oedipus will kill, not exile. Apollo said that if the murder died, the city would prosper again, so that might be just what he would do. Anyways, that kind of thing like suicide happens all the time in these Greek stories.
Alex,
I agree with most of your statements, but there is one thing I disagree on: I do not think that Oedipus knew that he was murdering Laius. Oedipus, with his big, stupid hubris blindly killed everyone in his path. Of course, there is no way he could justify his actions after that. However, in his stupidity, he probably did not realize that he had killed the king. Therefore, he probably didn’t know deep down that he had killed Laius, but he was being stupid anyways. He still killed someone, and no matter who you kill, it is still bad.
Oedipus is, so far, a very prideful man. Yes, this is not always a good thing. His decisions are blinded by his overconfidence and arrogance, yes. I feel you guys have covered the negatives of Oedipus very well. I do agree, I don’t like his reasoning and strong hubris. However, there are a few positives. I mean, look at how quick he got power. He did solve the Sphinx’s riddle, but if the person was a weak leader he wouldn’t have maintained the status of King. Now I personally don’t think Oedipus is the best choice either, if his problems with finding out that he killed Laius, he wouldn’t be able to control the city for too long. His confidence did shine through to the people, for they had so much trust in him. A king who doesn’t believe in himself can’t achieve anything. He was also relatively manipulative in his works.
Now, again, he was a little too strong on this. He was increasingly arrogant and blind. Emotions will overpower logic for the weak-minded. This was seen very commonly with Oedipus. He couldn’t reason with the people that spoke the truth because he couldn’t believe he would get accused of such a terrible deed. This is not good. This kind of thinking is very often seen in kings. It is easy for the lower class people to criticize them. People like us realize these things quicker then they do, because we haven’t experienced a high position of power. Many leaders lose control or go corrupt, but clearly things are much easier said then done once you reach that milestone. For example, in Oedipus’s argument with the old man, he spoke often of how he had conquered the Sphinx and proved himself to the people. But he couldn’t maintain this. At the beginning of the story, he seemed to be good hearted and all. But further on, with him being accused of things he just thinks ridiculous, he starts to lose it. From his stuck up point of view, him killing King Laius was impossible. It is quite a hard thing to accept but he just refused to. From what I know about the story, things get disastrous by the end, and now I can see how. I mean this guy’s life gets turned around!!! Killed the old King who was actually his father, being in love with his mother, and finding his “parents” aren’t really his parents at all? His hubris just makes things worse. This sort of thing would destroy anyone’s life, and I think the personality Sophocles gave him exaggerated it. It was a smart idea too, because the playwright was trying to get his point across. I personally do not like people like Oedipus, but we’ll see how things go.
Ok chris gets an A. I can bearly fit that on my screen
Alright…
I agree with Will on how he presents that Oedipus is not a bad person just naturally puts himself above others. This in itself almost makes him a bad person but besides that little detail he has mostly good intentions.
Elizabeth, I understand what you are saying as well and I agree. His attitude doesn’t necessarily change, merely the events he undergoes brings the truth into light.
Oedipus was a hubris man. He has so far shown that he values himself over his people. He gets mad at the Prophet and claims that he must have killed the previous king. He starts to list the great things he has done for the city and insults the prophet for being blind. It sounds as the story progresses and reveals more about Oedipus, he did not sound like he was so arrogant when he first came to the city. This leads me to conclude that Oedipus has gained his hubris as a result of ruling Thebes. So if we would have met Oedipus on his journey to Thebes and stopped him he would not be as arrogant now. Now that he is so hubris he will make selfish and badly planned decisions(I guess that is more of a prediction).
Will, I agree with you but I also noticed that as your paragraph progresses your opinion seems to change.
Blake, I also agree with you. there were some spelling things but good work.
Oedipus is like any other royal person; he believes he has rights to anything he wants. He is a foreigner to the country he now rules. On the way to Thebes Oedipus killed a man who now he thinks might have been King Laius, he is also starting to find out that Laius might be his father, and he married his own mother. He has shown his extensive hubris so far by taking all the things the prophet has told him he did and shoved them on his loyal follower Creon.I believe Oedipus is a very self centered man who does not think others thoughts are as important as his. I understand why he might be skeptical about having killed this man because there are many contradicting stories to the one he experienced, such as there were many men in the fight that killed Laius. In the future he will find out, from the one survivor of the battle, who is now a sheppard in the hills, if he is to exile, kill himself or if he is truly innocent and just killed a random man. Oedipus is a man that has many secrets that he will soon reveal to himself and others.
Alex,
You summed up the first part of it very well. I agree with you that deep down he really does know the answers to all the things that are coming up to the surface in his life. He is very hubris (prideful). You were very accurate in the content of your summery.
Greta,
You pointed out the main parts to the section we have read. I think that by adding the quote in your answer really made your argument a strong and interesting one. In answer to your question I think Oedipus will pretend it never happened because the loves the power that he has and I don’t think he would give it up for something he decreed before he knew it might have been him that actually killed Laius.
Matt,
I want to clear up what I said. I wasn’t quite clear enough before, and I think you misunderstood me. What I meant to say was that after all the puzzle pieces were coming together, and Oedipus had put the facts together, he began to contemplate that it might have been him who killed Laius. I hope this clears any confusion that we might have had.
Matt I agree with you to a certain degree. when you say he is not very responsible in your first sentance i believe, at the beggining and towards the middle he seems unresponsible but towards the end he is confessing the murder and this shows a lot of responsibility to admit a murder of a former king.
When the book had first started I thought that Oedipus was like any other king. By him making accusations without a lot of evidence made me think that he was insecure and panicking that he was going to be dethroned. He is also arrogant, also he comes off as a rather stubborn man. I believe him to be stubborn because he was acused of murdering king Leius, and after he is acused he starts screaming and yelling and not taking the time to think how he could have murdered him. Oedipus is much less agressive with his wife/mommmy. But when he talked with his wife/mommy he talked about what had happened and he listened to the description of the King’s murder and when he though about it, Oedipus had killed a man who looked the same as Leius, killed a man at the same spot as Leius, and is now coming to the conclusion that he is the murderer. He also showed a good atribute, when he admitted to the murder and thought, wow there is a chance that I could have been the murderer. This showed he was mature and could take responsibility for his own actions. Only time will tell what happens to Oedipus……….
Greta I agree how you say he is thinking that he is always right, because when he was crowned King everyone loved him and thought he was all that, so he began to think he was a flawless human being.
At first it seemed like Oedipus was a kind king who was willing to help his people any way he could. He even sent out messengers to gather all of the information that could be found about how to end the terrible plague. However, as more facts become known, and more blame begins to fall on Oedipus himself, he begins to act accusingly and suspiciously. He starts to blame others who carry the massage that he is the murderer, and he runs from the rumors. He tries to punish others who say that he is guilty because he doesn’t want to believe them. He begins to be haunted by his past, and slowly turns into his own enemy. His fear and ego combine, and he is quick to accuse and judge. He is scared that all of the prophecies will come true and it will turn out that he did indeed commit all of the horrible crimes he was blamed for.
I agree with Gavin, that one of the reasons Oedipus was quick to blame others was because he was scared he would be dethroned. I believe he thought that if he created a common enemy; then, the people would focus on someone other than him.
Alex,
I completely agree with your point about Oedipus’ pride. You made a strong statement when you talked about his “true colors”. Oedipus seems to be a hubris man who doesn’t like to be told what to do. When he met the carriage on the road and was told to step aside, his ego began to control his mind. Instead of quietly moving out of the way, he became angry, and killed the driver, escorts, and passenger. Sadly, the passenger turned out to be his father, and the king! By letting his pride control his mind, he made a horrible prophecy come true.
Oedipus was like any other normal person before being king. He was passing by Thebes until he saw the problems caused by the Sphinx. In which if the person did not solve the riddle then the Sphinx would destroy all of Thebes. People could not solve the riddle, until Oedipus finally figured out the brain bleeder. The answer was “human”. When he solved the Sphinx’s riddle, the Sphinx was defeated and Oedipus became the new king. People started to be very hopeful that Oedipus would care for the people and do anything for Thebes, yet it backfired. As Sophocles describes in his play, Oedipus was becoming more of a selfish king rather than the ruler that Thebes hoped for. He started to become stubborn, arrogant, and a cruel person. His hubris got in his way by blaming others for the murder of the previous king. Due his pride and overconfidence he could not understand the right or the wrong. His emotions poisoned him which made him weak. When he questioned the blind prophet and seeked answers about himself from the past, yet the prophet could not tell him. As he started to become more impatient he used harsh force which forced the poor blind prophet to speak. This shows that Oedipus does not care about anything else, he just wants it for himself. As Sophocles describes in his play further on we see that Oedipus seeks more answers about his past yet he can not accept the fact that he murdered his own father. As he starts to get the answers he gets shocked by the horror death of his wife/mother and blinds himself with a pin. As he starts to loose his vision he starts to understand that he was the one who murdered his father and he was a very selfish, stubborn and arrogant.
Casey,
I absolutely agree with you. Oedipus sounded like a very nice king, but as time went on he became more different than ever before. I also agree that he did commit those crimes and that he had to accept everything so he could move on.
Will,
I do agree with you. Oedipus was a very hubris man and his pride blinded him in the bad way. He always blamed for others due to his overconfidence and again pride which brought him down very badly
I think Oedipus has some what rational emotions in this. I mean he sort of is over reacting but I over react all the time. haha. Still though. Its a big deal still whether it be that Iocasta is his mother or Creon is some what of a traitor. so ya XD
Harjap, I agree that Oedipus’s pride will be his ultimate downfall, and that it makes him very weak. I also agree that Oedipus should take responsibility for his actions earlier on rather than blaming other people.
Oedipus is the king of Thebes, and he is very worried about the plague that is causing the city to fall apart. He is very prideful because he solved the riddle of the Sphinx. That is how he became king. He also thinks everything should go his way because he is king, but he ignores the will of the gods. He is willing to exile or even kill the person who killed the old king, Laius. At first he seems very sincere when he says that he wants to help the city, but when he is told by an old prophet that he was the one who killed Laius, he couldn’t believe it. He was told that he would marry his mother, and he would kill his father. He does not want to accept this as the truth because his wife, Iocasta, is really his mother. I think that he should learn to accept things the way they are instead of accusing the people who tell him the facts of being guilty. When he starts putting the pieces together, he realizes that he is really Iocasta’s son, and saved by a Theban who gave him to a Corinthian who took the young Oedipus to the house of the king of Corinth, Polybus. When he and Iocasta figure out what happened, Iocasta kills herself, and Oedipus blinds himself. I do not think his actions are justified at all. He tried to defy the will of the gods by leaving who he thought were his parents in Corinth. He may have been disturbed, but he could have control himself better. He is also too prideful for his own good because he can’t stand up and take the blame for bringing the plague.
Oedipus is an unusual character. His pride is shown when people accuse him of murder, like Creon or the blind prophet. He tries to protect his new reputation in Thebes and accuses the blind prophet of killing the old king. He thinks he is right no matter what; and will later learn that he is wrong.
(I might be wrong about this, but i was taught the definition of hubris was when a hero/demigod thought they were better than the gods. I’m sorry if my definition is wrong.)
Hubris effects the story of Oedipus because, with Iocasta/Laius and Oedipus, they tried to defy the priestess of the Orcale at Delphi (which is indirectly the voice of Apollo) and they thought that they were smarter than the gods because of that.
Beth, I really like your comment. You were able to tell what he was really like and described perfectly.
I believe he is like any ruler. At first, they usually care about their people,the people of the land. As their reign continues and they gain more power, they tend to become power hungry and self-conceited. They really start to believe they are truly amazing. Although this is not always the case, I believe it is the case with Oedipus.
Kendra, I agree that power and territory tend to corrupt people, and they make the people want more.
Oedipus was a good man, but when he defeats the Sphinx, and receives the crown he morphs into an arrogant ruler with an immense amount of hubris. However aside from his pride Oedipus is an able ruler, and fits the newly open slot of king of Thebes very well. When a plague spreads throughout Thebes, Oedipus seeks the wisdom of a prophet who tells him the only way to stop the plague is to bring the killer of the old king Laius, to justice. When Oedipus deciphers the clues to the murder he eventually figures out that he is the killer, and he cursed himself. In my opinion he is just a complete Neanderthal, in the sense that he is unenlightened, so the life he thinks he knows is a lie. He tried to get away from the prophecy that he first hears by coming to Thebes, but that only caused it to happen. In a way it also isn’t really Oedipus’s fault this all happened. It all could have been avoided if Laius’s slave just did what he was told.
Casey, I liked how you phrased your paragraph and I agree with the point about the news of all this haunted him, and I think he also knows the answer to all these problems, but just doesn’t want it to be true.
Jess, I agree with you, and I like how you mention that you can’t avoid the gods because they rule all, and what they say goes. Also yes, I think you are right about his hubris.
I can tell that Oedipus’ intentions are good, but he obviously has gotten really arrogant once he solved the Sphinx’s riddle and became King. He also shows his hubris when he decided to defy the old man’s prophecy and be unreasonably cruel. Oedipus basically denies everybody who repeats the prophet to him, and even goes as far as blaming Creon, who was only trying to be helpful. Although he seems cruel and unjust to these people, I also understand why he acts like that. He probably doesn’t like the fact that he killed King Laius and married his own mother, whom he has already had children with. Oedipus’ hubris also shows because he doesn’t even listen to Apollo when he himself tells him the prophecy. It seems like he asks everybody for more information but just gets even angrier at them when they tell him the truth.
Abi, I agree with you when you say that Oedipus’ hubris is just something he picks up when he becomes King. Kings naturally become arrogant and bratty when they can have whatever they want.
Jess, I think you summed up Oedipus’ personality really well. I agree that he treated everybody with cruelity.
Oedipus’ hubris has been showing up a lot in the story. When he is confronted by a problem, he seems to ignore his wrong doings and blame others. He’s lashed out at almost everyone, especially the prophet and his brother. He isn’t handling the situation well at all. But despite all he’s done, I can actually see why he’s acting the way he is.
It’s much easier to deal with a problem with blaming others, then blaming yourself. I think Oedipus is just defensive because the consequences of this problem are huge. It’s easy to not like Oedipus from what we have seen so far, but I don’t think that’s fair. He’s arrogant and mean, but I think on a normal day, where he doesn’t find out that he killed his father and married his mother, he might be a nicer person.
I think Oedipus is not connect with hubris. He just want to be hero of Thebes. And, he killed Sphinx. By the way, he has responsibility because when Thebes got epidemic of Apollo. And, he heard that someone in Thebes killed Laius who was the king before Oedipus and murderer should be expeled by Thebes. And, when Teiresias knew the truth. However,he didn’t want to answer it perfectly because Oedipus killed Laius and that means the downfall of king. But, Oedipus got angry about Teiresias’s attitude and he was fretful. I think that Oedipus is not really hubris. However, his personality is such as impatient.
Oedipus is not a very freindly or honest person. His pride or hubris clouds his vision of what is obvious. When he finds something that is not the way he wants it he simply turns the other way so to speak and changes the conversation. Usualy he ends up blaming people who are only trying to help him like his brother in law. His accusations against the blind prophet have no evidence at all. He never wants to believe that something in his perfect little world could be wrong and if something is wrong, it has nothing to do with him. Although, he is strong and persistent in finding the truth which is a good quality in a leader. Even if it means admitting that the blind prophet and the oracle are right, he will use any means to find the truth. Overall, he is extremely arrogant, but has certain qualities that help him govern his people.
Kim, I totally agree with you. Oedipus is not acting the best right now, but it’s not that hard to see why. He’s having a pretty horrible time right now.
Greta, I think you make a great point. Oedipus’ reaction to the truth, is going to be the best way to see his character. His short term reaction has been not the greatest, but maybe his long term reaction will be better.
Casey,
I definitely agree with you. Oedipus first seemed like a true king. He would not show his hubris character at all. He put his own people before him and made sure that they were safe instead of just doing what he wanted. He wanted to know what was causing the famine, and when he did, he wanted to stop it. However as the story continued, and now we know the whole picture, his hubris character burst out of him like the sunshine in the mountains.
Hunter, I agree with you. However, I think Oedipus had responsibility with that occuerence. And, he was gotten out of Thebes himself. I like your opinion but I thought he is far from hubris.
Greta, I agree with you. Oedipus is not very hubris. And, he admitted that he killed someone and became murderer.
Shawn,
When you say, “In a way it also isn’t really Oedipus’s fault this all happened.” I don’t completely agree with you. Yes, if Laius’ slave did what he was told, then there would be no conflict with Oedipus. But since the slave did not kill Oedipus, Oedipus would grow up and live. However, because Oedipus was blind from a hubris character, he murdered innocent people. Now, he had the choice to murder people, but he chose poorly and killed the people. Everything that you do now will affect you later on in life. Oedipus did not know this very well, so he chose badly which completely changed the course of his path.
Jack,
I agree with you. You summed up Oedipus’ character very well. I completely have the same opinion as you when you said that he was extremely hubris, yet he had the traits of a leader. If Oedipus were not so hubris and prideful, then he would have made a good king. Good points.
I think Oedipus is a good leader but he has a few issues, such as being very prideful and not wanting to accept responsibility. He is short tempered, this became evident when the blind prophet accused him of killing Laius. He became angry and didn’t want to believe him. Some of these traits might seem exaggerated because I think he tries to be a good man and didn’t want to accept that he might have been the one to kill Laius. I also think he accused his step brother because he wants people to think he is good.
Maile,
I agree with you that Oedipus is trying to ignore his wrong deeds and blame others.