Hamlet notes that the killer of his father now wears his crown. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus "stung" King Laius and now wears his crown.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Blog Post 2
In the beginning of the Greek play Oedipus the King, Oedipus is characterized as the savior of Thebes. As the king , Oedipus is looked upon to end the plague. The Priest and the citizens of Thebes "thought of [Oedipus] as a God" (35). This characterization portrays Oedipus of a great man. The audience knows this is not necessarily the case. Once the Oracle evinces the only way to end the plague is to kill the murderer of Laius, dramatic irony is introduced. The citizens of Thebes expect him the find and kill the murderer but the audience knows this will never happen as Oedipus himself is the killer. Despite this fact, Oedipus declares he will end the plague by saying " I will bring this to light again" (161) and "you will see in me an ally, a champion of my country and the God" (164-165). Oedipus tries to characterize himself as this great man and it works as the priest says "it was this we came to seek" (177). Oedipus is comparable King Claudius of Hamlet. Both kings kill the previous king in order to gain the crown. To contrast, Oedipus is characterized as a valiant king and Claudius is characterized as a coward. This difference in characterization will cause for a bigger downfall in Oedipus's reputation than Claudius's. By creating such a glorious stature, Oedipus will be looked at worst by his people when his downfall occurs. This downfall is bound to happen as he will never be able to end the plague.
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I like how you made a comparison between Oedipus and King Claudius because I never thought about the connection. Though they kill the previous kings for the crown and power, Oedipus has no idea to his hideous crime while King Claudius has a plan ready to take place. The people of Thebes view Oedipus as their hero and savior while King Claudius is portrayed as nefarious and coward. At least for Oedipus, he does not have a clue that he murdered King Laius. As the king, Oedipus is a man with heroic characteristics who treats his people with kindness and consideration unlike King Claudius. I agree with what you say about “a bigger downfall in Oedipus's reputation” because the people of Thebes will later turn their backs on Oedipus and attack him for his ugly crime despite being a courageous and great king.
ReplyDeleteI also like your connection between the two kings. Linda makes a great point that Oedipus does not intend to be a mean king, but Claudius does.Oedipus does not realize he is the cause of the city's despair. This connection also shows similarities between Shakespearean and Greek drama. Hubris plays a big part in both types as both kings are overconfident in their own ways.
ReplyDeleteNow I understand that killing the true murderer, being himself, won't happen, but I feel as though through the course of the play it won't be as simple as that. I can only assume being a tragedy, Oedipus will use his power to falsely accuse others, leading to multiple deaths before his true identity is figured out. Being as he killed to get his position, it's safe to say that he will kill many to keep it.
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