Tuesday, February 5, 2013
There's a flaw in the system
The more we get to know someone, the more we find that we might not like. Sort of like Donkey in "Shrek" explaining about the layers of an onion. As you've read the bulk of the play, Oedipus's character clarifies, and some of the pieces aren't so wonderful. Consider his actions and choices, and determine his flaw. What is it, and what is the evidence that supports it? Remember his flaw must lead to a mistake in judgment and his downfall. Be clear about the mistake and the downfall.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think his biggest flaw is his wrath. He is quick-tempered. He says rash things because of his anger. He also does rash things. An example of him saying rash things is when Teiresias comes to Thebes. He becomes very angry with Teiresias just because he won't tell him the truth even though, Teiresias could be helpful in other ways. If he hadn't yelled at Teiresias, he might have been helpful. Even after that, he yells at Creon, making a rash statement that Creon is trying to overthrow him. An example of rash thing he does is when he kills Laïos. He pretty much kills him because he cuts him off. Even though Laïos did run him off the road. This leads to his downfall because if he hadn't been so quick-tempered, he would have not killed Laïos.
ReplyDeleteDraft 2
His biggest flaw is arrogance. He thinks he can out smart the g-ds. He is told that he has a prophecy, yet he thinks he can make it not happen. It leads to a mistake in judgement. He leaves Corinth just to avoid the prophecy. This makes his downfall because if he had stayed he wouldn't have killed his father and married his mother. He almost immediately fulfills the prophecy. He also dismisses Tieresias's words. His downfall is actually years later when he hears the truth. In his mistake, he was trying to do a good thing.
Oedipus's character fault is his anger or wrath. This is his character flaw because it leads to his downfall. His mistake was when he met king Laïos and his guards forced him off the road he struck out against them in ager and killed almost all of them. On page 43 Oedipus says that: "The groom leading the horses Forced me off the road at his lord's command; But as this charioteer lurched over towards me I struck him in my rage". This shows that Oedipus has a problem with his rage. He struck out in anger at a action that was not meant to be provocative, yet in his mind was an act of lashing out towards him. This led to his downfall because the his entire predicament he is in was caused by the killing of King Laïos. By fleeing Corinth, he almost immediately fulfills the oracle. He kills Laïos and marries his mother.
ReplyDeleteOedipus's flaw are mostly concealed throughout the book up until the end. His flaw is his unawareness of his surroundings, his almost blindness to his situation. Despite the pleads of his wife and the warning words of prophets he continues to search for the truth. He dismisses the words of Tiresias,who suppository has all the answer. Oedipus's extensive pride and determination to find his fate is wavered to the point where it ruins him.I would say almost ignorance or hubris is his tragic flaw.He thought he could best the god's that he could avoid their path for him.His main mistake in judgement was leaving Corinth to escape the prophecy. When he left cornith he almost immediately starts fulfilling the prophecy.He kills the kings, and marries the queen. Once he finds out the truth he wish he hadn't.
ReplyDeleteOedipus's character flaw is always needing to know the truth. "What! You do know something, and will not tell us? You would betray us all and wreck the State" (18). This flaw leads him to accuse Creon of trying to steal his throne as king of Thebes. "Do you think I do not know That you plotted to kill me, plotted to steal my throne? (28). This flaw also leads to him remembering how he might of killed Laios'."He was paid back, and more! Swinging my club in this right hand I knocked him Out of his car, and he rolled on the ground. I killed him. I killed them all" (43).
ReplyDeleteAnother character flaw is arrogance. Oedipus receives prophecy that he didn't want and he believes he can outsmart the gods. Mistake in judgement: leaving Corinth to avoid prophecy and dismissing Teireisias's words. Oedipus almost immediately fulfills the oracle: kills Laios and marries Iocaste. He experiences the downfall years later when he learns the truth.
Oedipus's flaw is that he was arrogant. From the beginning of the play, he wanted to know the prophecy and he thought he was right and could outusmart the gods and beat the prophecy. The mistake was when he had a mistake in judgement to leave Corinth, because if he hadn't he would probably not have killed his father. He believed he would never marry his mother and kill his father. "I heard all this and fled"(42). Throughout the book, he was very arrogant. His wife told him not to figure it out but he wanted to anyway. He is afraid of the truth. Fleeing Corinth fifteen years ago was the source of his downfall because if he hadn't, he never would have killed Laios. Immediately after he found out the prophecy, he follows it immediately. Experiences downfall years later. In this mistake he was trying to do a good thing, he forgot the gods get to decide. It has gone on so long, he kind of forgot.
ReplyDeleteI think that Oedipus's flaw is being arrogant. He received a prophecy that he didn't want, then he thought he could outsmart the gods; gods are what decide things, therefore it is impossible. The biggest mistake Oedipus made was leaving Corinth to try and get around the prophecy. In the first scene, we saw that Oedipus completely ignored Tiersias's words. "As, that I should lie with my own mother, breed children from whom all men would turn their eyes; and that I should be my father's murderer. I heard all of this and fled" (42). Another mistake was he made was killing Laios, and marrying Iocaste. Oedipus's downfall was years later when he learned the truth.
ReplyDeleteI think that Oedipus’s fault is arrogance. In the beginning he believed could stop the prophecy and that he was powerful enough to stop what the oracles had said/outsmart the gods. He had thought that he would stop the oracle if he left Corinth, when in fact he would have stopped the prophecy from happening if he stayed in Corinth. He wouldn’t have left Corinth, murdered Laios nor married his mother. Throughout the story, he didn’t listen to people’s advice and words of wisdom. By dismissing Tieresias words and later on in the story, Iocaste tries to convince him not to search for the truth, yet he thinks that he is right. He blames Creon for killing Laios, this is both arrogance and fear. This single event of fleeing Corinth, causes him to directly fulfills the oracle and it is only later the downfall affects him when he learns about the truth. Although when he left Corinth he meant to do the right thing, he needed to remember that the gods are the ones in charge.
ReplyDeleteI believe Oedipus's flaws are arrogance and fear. I think he is arrogant because he doesn't want to believe that his wife is his mother and his kids are his sibling's. When he gets the prophecy he thought he would be able to outsmart the gods and ended up making the prophecy happen. I believe his arrogance comes from fear. In leaving Corinth the thought he was getting away from his problem when really he was running right into it. After he leaves Corinth he almost immediately fulfills the oracle.
ReplyDeleteLike all heroes in Greek tragedies, Oedipus has a fatal flaw. Oedipus's flaw is his need to try to save everybody. This causes him to search for the killer of Laios in order to save the city. His mistake is that he is so determined to find the killer that he doesn't stop to think about what he is doing. This shows him that the prophecy came true. If he didn't feel the need to save everyone, he wouldn't have searched so much for the truth, and if he hadn't searched so much for the truth, he wouldn't have found out about he prophecy coming true. He thinks that he will be able to stop the plague, because he had in the past.. Because of this, he is arrogant, saying that because he has defeated a plague in the past, he can defeat this one. This arrogance and need to save everyone lead to his downfall.
ReplyDeleteOedipus' major flaw is wrath. This is for many reasons. For example, when Oedipus killed Laios. The wagon had simply pushed him off the road he was on, but he went into a rage because of it. He ended up killing everyone inside the wagon, one of which was his actual father making the prophecy he had tried to avoid by mistakenly leaving Corinth true. He fulfilled the prophecy almost immediately because after he left. Had he not been consumed by his rage, he would not be in the predicament he is in now.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the biggest flaws Oedipus has is being stubborn and arrogant. Maybe prophecies might always not be correct but Oedipus was well aware of the prophecy he received but he just did not want to believe it. Oedipus is stubborn because he things he has the ability to outsmart the Gods and thinking they won't know if he kills his father and marries his mother. To me that was Oedipus's biggest mistake. Oedipus is arrogant because when the messenger made it clear that he killed his own father (which meant he married his mother according to the prophecy) he did not even care. He was worried of what Iocaste was going to think of him. By the fact that oedipus leaves Corinth, he already completes the oracle and right away that is trouble. He does not realized every mistake he did until he marries Iocaste and the city is in danger of a plague.
ReplyDelete