Srinivas 1 Tarun Srinivas Mrs. Harrison/ Mr. Friedman Lang/Lit 1 Honors 18 August 2021 The Traits and Changes in Oedipus Our circumstances play a significant role in shaping us. As time goes on, our personalities, beliefs, and attitudes change. We learn more about ourselves and the world around us. We go through the struggle of trying to find our true identity to become familiar with our roots and beliefs. This journey is significantly showcased in The Oedipus Cycle. In the Oedipus Cycle, Oedipus is a caring but prideful and powerful king who becomes wise and humble after going through the harsh journey that fate had planned for him. At the beginning of the book, Oedipus was a humble, caring, but prideful King of Thebes. He promised to save his kingdom from a disastrous plague by punishing the killer of late King Laios. Later, he finds that King Laios is his father and that he killed him, so he tells Creon to banish him from Thebes and afterward goes into oust. This occasion started the start of the changing of his character. His daughter, Antigone, goes with him all through his outcast. It is demonstrated that Oedipus' person has changed as time elapsed by, and this is displayed in the plays Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus. Toward the start of the book, Oedipus is depicted as a powerful lord due to his position and wealth. A priest is talking to Oedipus. The priest is praising and begging Oedipus to find a remedy that can stop the catastrophic plague from ravishing the land of. The priest says, "You Srinivas 2 are not one of the immortal gods, we know; yet we have come to you to make our prayer as to the man surest in mortal ways and wisest in the ways of God. It was some god breathed in you to set us free" (Sophocles 5). Along these lines, this demonstrates that Oedipus is a powerful figure. His people see him as a figure comparable to god and count on him to find a solution to prevent the plague from ravaging Thebes. When he comes to know the horrifying truth about his father’s death, killing his father, he feels incapable, so he tells Creon to banish him from Thebes. The Choragos says, “Men of Thebes: look upon Oedipus. This is the king who solved the famous riddle and towered up, most powerful of men. Yet in the end, ruin swept over him” (Sophocles 80-81). It shows that coming to know what abhorrent thing he did totally changed what his identity was. Another characteristic Oedipus has is quickly accusing somebody. Oedipus calls Teiresias to Thebes since he realizes who killed late ruler Laios. Teiresias won't say what he knows and that infuriates Oedipus. Oedipus denounces Teiresias, and afterward Teiresias at last comes clean about ruler Laios' demise. Hearing this, Oedipus reprimands the prophet. He says, "Tell us: Has your mystic mummery ever approached the truth? Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing-I thought it out for myself; no birds helped me! And this is the man you can think you can destroy" (Sophocles 21-22). This quote shows that whenever something wrong is said about him, he quickly counters it without knowing if it is true. Oedipus is likewise a legitimate individual, and he acknowledges reality regardless. He was straightforward with Iocaste, his wife/mother, that he killed late King Laios. He said, "Think of it: I have touched you with these hands, which killed your husband. What defilement!" (Sophocles 43). This proof shows Oedipus is a genuine individual regardless of the outcomes that he may look in the wake of coming clean. He wants to be honest and sincere all the time. Srinivas 3 One other characteristic Oedipus has is being reckless. At the point when Oedipus reveals to Iocaste that ruler Laios is his dad and he killed him, Iocaste is crushed. She was the wife of the late King Laios and their child, whom she thought was dead, is rather hitched to her and bore his kids. After coming to know all this, she could not take in those facts and gets extremely depressed, so she kills herself. At the point when Oedipus sees her dead body, he detaches his eyes. The second messenger says, "And as he spoke, he struck at his eyes-not once, but many times; And the blood splattered his beard, bursting from his ruined sockets like red hail" (Sophocles 69). Now, it proves that Oedipus doesn't think before he does an activity. Without contemplating the outcomes, he gouges his eyes out. Besides, an actual difference in Oedipus has likewise happened. At the point when he was the lord, he was amazing and didn't rely upon anybody. Then again, when he goes into banishment, he must be directed by his girl Antigone since he dazed himself. At the point when they show up at Colonus, he says, "My daughterdaughter of the blind old man-where have we come to now, Antigone?” (Sophocles 85). This textual evidence indicates that Oedipus lost his power. He changed from being a powerful individual capable of helping lots into a weak person that cannot help himself. In conclusion, Oedipus has gone through a couple of significant occasions that completely changed who he was mentally and physically. He went from a fearsome, extraordinary ruler into a defenseless, weak person. Ruler Oedipus was a decent man, yet his destiny removed everything from him. King Oedipus was a good man, but his fate took everything away from him. Hence, all the accidents fate threw at him turned him into an entirely different person. Srinivas 4 Works Cited Sophocles, et al. The Oedipus Cycle: an English Version. Harcourt Brace, 2002.
