StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Oedipus The King Research Paper - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
When Oedipus the King opens, it is with flowers and homage, with burning incense and adoring crowds, and Oedipus — happily married, master of his country and his people — is at the center at it all. By the time the play ends, the crowds are gone, and Oedipus is alone —…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.2% of users find it useful
Oedipus The King Research Paper
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Oedipus The King Research Paper"

Download file to see previous pages

ouses in us both pity and fear, Aristotle explains: “For pity is aroused by someone who undeservedly falls into misfortune, and fear is evoked by our recognizing that it is someone like ourselves who encounters this misfortune.” (51) That powerful combination of emotion made the story so popular that John Dryden, writing in the mid-1600s, said that the story had “worn so threadbare by the pens of all the epic poets” (170) that “people so soon as ever they heard the name of Oedipus, knew as well as the poet, that he had killed his father by a mistake and committed incest with his mother, before the play; that they were now to hear of a great plague, an oracle and the ghost of Laius.” (171) And, indeed, modern critics have echoed these opinions: Jennifer Lewin’s aptly titled “Oedipus Rex: Possibly the Greatest of all Tragedies” argues that the play represents the apex of dramatic achievement for tragedies.

Even the chorus of the play itself reflects the tragedy of Oedipus: Even the Freudians acknowledge the tragedy of Oedipus, even as they psychoanalyze his experience. In the 1950s, Charles Rado read the Oedipus myth in Freudian fashion, revealing it to be a battle between Oedipus and his own unconscious urges, culminating in self-destruction. Rado, of course, makes much of the incestuous relationship between Oedipus and his mother Jocasta, pointing to the riddle of the Sphinx as a metaphor for that union: “The riddle of the Sphinx is thus interpreted: four refers to the primal scene (four parental legs), the result of which is two, the legs of the child, who later develops a third leg, the penis.

The Sphinx personifies the mother in her aspect of Medusa; the child splits her into mother and whore.” (233) Still, there appears to be no question that Rado views the conflicted hero who gave his name to the Freudian’s pet complex with sympathy. Still, the insistence on viewing Oedipus the King as a tragedy leaves a very real space of

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Oedipus The King Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Oedipus The King Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1548522-oedipus-the-king-research-paper
(Oedipus The King Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
Oedipus The King Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1548522-oedipus-the-king-research-paper.
“Oedipus The King Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1548522-oedipus-the-king-research-paper.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Oedipus The King Research Paper

Shakespearean tragedies vs greek tragedies

hellip; Shakespeare has made many other tragedies which are likewise popular, such as Othello, king Lear, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar which have been made into movies and television specials.... In comparison, Macbeth showed all three - hubris in his ambition to be king, murder in killing Duncan, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her children, and breach of hospitality when he murders king Duncan who was then a guest in his house.... Many have likened Macbeth to oedipus in Greek tragedy, because oedipus was likewise guilty of all three sins....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Aristotle, Classic Technique, and Greek Drama

He regarded Sophocles' “Oedipus The King” as one of the most extraordinary examples of a classic Greek tragedy and has used the play as the basis for his criticism on Greek tragedy in his work “Poetics” released in 5th century BC.... Let us look at “Oedipus The King” based on the three section in the story.... oedipus the hero of the play is doomed from the time of birth itself.... Research Paper: How Sophocles' oedipus exemplifies or refutes Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

The Innocence of Oedipus: The Philosophers on Oedipus the King

Oedipus The King Your Name Student Number Course Number Due Date Oedipus The King Oedipus The King is one of the most famous plays in the history of literature.... Oedipus, the king of Thebes, during the course of the play, realizes that he had killed his own father and married his own mother.... Oedipus' flaw, reckless action coupled with exceptional insight and intelligence enable him to become the king of Thebes....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Smart Fabric

Some of the technology that is integrated in these fabrics is electronic elements such as microchips, sensors and actuators; biotechnology that allows living organisms to change the effect and use of fabric.... … Smart textile also known as e-textiles are materials that allow electronics, digital and computing mechanism to be set in them....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Communication and Patient Safety Research Design

This paper explores Communication and Patient Safety Research Design.... Effective communication has been one of the major challenges that most caregivers have with their patients.... Most nurses do not realize the role that effective communication plays in reducing risk factors of the patient.... … This paper is a critical design of a research that is to be performed to prove that there is indeed a correlation between poor communication and patient's risk....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Age Discrimination in Employment in the US

Age discrimination suits are the fastest growing category of discrimination charges filed with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).... In “The Statement of Jacqueline A.... Berrien, Chair, U.... EEOC,” EEOC (2010) noted that in the fiscal year 2008, age… This is despite the existence of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) which is enforced by EEOC....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Amazon Technology Used for Online Shopping Purposes

The paper shows the introduction of the technology and the ways that made it become widespread.... It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the technology.... The usefulness of the technology in current times, whether it has become obsolete or is still valuable.... hellip; This report discusses the popularity of the technology and possible improvements to the technology....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Othellos Tragic Flaws

Aristotle defined tragedy as “Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify… s themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us