Irony #12

Oedipus the King starts off with Oedipus portraying his leadership qualities of caring for his people and his willingness to do anything for them. “I am ready to help, I’ll do anything. I would be blind to misery not to pity my people kneeling at my feet” (13-15). Oedipus wants to be known as a kind-hearted and sympathetic man to further gain the support of his people. He wants the fame and the love, “the whole world knows my fame” (8).

            When Creon comes back with the oracle that says the plague will only end if the killer of Laius is killed, Oedipus right away states, “I never saw the man myself” (121). That line contains dramatic irony. The audience should know that Oedipus himself was the one that killed Laius to grab power. Obviously if he murdered Laius, he has seen him in person before. Every word spoken by Oedipus at that moment was filled with irony. Pretending to be innocent, Oedipus makes threats to the killer of Laius which is extremely ironic because he essentially is making a threat to himself and he fakes being angry to make it seem like he is caring for his people. “Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too, with the same violent hand—by avenging Laius I defend myself” (158-160).

            This moment of irony affects the whole plot of the story by showing the characteristic of Oedipus being dishonest and sneaky, plus he has the citizens’ full trust. If there is a corrupt leader, such as Oedipus, the story plot will most likely have to do with a tragedy and will all come down moments before or after the truth is revealed about them. The characters will be impacted by this irony too. One can compare Oedipus to Iago. In both cases, their friends and people believed that they were great, honest, and trustworthy. The characters will be affected by trusting Oedipus too much. 

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.

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.

Oedipus

In Oedipus, Apollo stands out as the supreme God of the Athenians. The city of Thebes "cries for a healer and (Wales) for the dead  (5). The citizens carry branches in wool that they offer the Gods as gifts. Apollo is the immortal healer while Oedipus is the mortal healer.  Oedipus can be described as a compassionate leader who who displays a sense of justice within his community. He is so confident that he goes as far as saying "I'll bring it to the light myself" (150). Other than Apollo, the citizens of Thebes looks to Oedipus as a God. Oedipus is clearly concerned with the plague in Thebes killing off his people. He is known as a ruler who truly cares for the well-being of his people. To prevent this plague from wiping out the Athenians, Oedipus consults Creon for advice to stop it. Upon consulting Creon, Oedipus discovers the murderer of Laius is in Thebes. Laius was the ruler before Oedipus. Oedipus resorts his attention to solving the mystery of Lauis's murder. This displays a character traits crucial to any leader which is determination. In fact, Oedipus is so determined that he tells the people of Thebes that he will end the plague himself. 
  Further in the play, Oedipus displays another characteristic which happens to be extreme anger as he gets extremely hostile when Tiresias holds information from Oedipus.

Conflict and Characterization

The opening of Oedipus the King launches immediately into a world of conflict and despair. The people of Thebes are sick and dying, and the unsolved murder of a king has left citizens, leaders, and even Apollo himself angry and vengeful. As a result of this strife. Oedipus' character is portrayed as decisive and valiant--so much so that it leaves the reader to wonder if all is as it seems.

"Thebes is dying," declares a priest near the beginning of the play (31). "And black Death luxuriates in the raw, wailing miseries of Thebes." (37-38). Instantly, the reader learns just how dire the situation is; the sick and dying beg their king, Oedipus, for "strength, rescue!" (52).

To make matters worse, long-awaited Creon arrives with news from the Oracle of Delphi: The plague is punishment for allowing the murderer of former King Laius to slip away. But, never fear--the all-powerful Oedipus will save the day. "I'll bring it all to light myself!" he declares vehemently (150).

The modern reader can immediately identify the hubris--excessive pride--which radiates off Oedipus. He/she knows that hubris is a common "fatal flaw" for Greek tragic heroes. Often their confidence leads to their premature fall from grace. Oedipus' strong words--"I am the land's avenger by all rights" (154) and "Now you have me to fight for you" (153) indicate his heightened opinion of himself and foreshadow a great fall headed his way. The immediate characterization of Oedipus as prideful and "invincible" results from the conflicts presented at the start of the play, and leads the reader to suspect this hubris could become a big problem for the King.

Oedipus 1

 As Oedipus the King begins we are immediately thrown into the world and explained the conflict. Oedipus is a new ruler to his land, following the late King Laius. King Laius one day was found dead, and thus a new ruler, Oedipus, was found. However, after many pleas by the people and messages from the priest, it is found that Oedipus' people are dealing with tough times. They are cursed with famine and plague. As Oedipus truly cares for his people, he sends his step brother Creon to the temples to speak with the gods. He is informed that the is unrest because no justice has been brought to the late kind Laius' killers. Oedipus thus vows to discover their identities and bring them to justice so to help his people.

In true Greek play style, the main conflict and overall goal is displayed in the first couple pages. It is shown as an almost murder mystery/revenge story, and will probably play out with common themes as one. Just as Mystic River, a tale inspired by Greek literature, ended in tragedy and a symbolic connection to a past conflict, I believe the same will happen here. While I obviously haven't read far yet, I will predict based on the central story it is playing out, that an attack such as the one towards Laius will occur to Oedipus, and the play will end in a bitter but somehow sweet way. Even if he isn't attacked like Laius, It's safe to say that he will face hardships in death as most Greek plays undergo.

Oedipus

    Oedipus’ people define him as a hero. Ever since Oedipus figures out the riddle of the Sphinx and takes throne, the people look up to him for any problems that occur in the future. Later in his time of rule, a plague finds his city and curses and makes crops refuse to grow, woman die while giving birth, and children born stillborn. Since the people look up to Oedipus, they go to him to resolve their problem. The priest says, “Act now-we beg you, best of men, raise up to our city! Act, defend yourself, your former glory! Your country calls you savior now for your zeal, your former glory!”(l. 57-60). Oedipus cares only for his people’s safety because he says, “I grieve for these, my people, far more than i fear for my whole life”(l. 105).

    Oedipus’ character traits include him being easily angered. As Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the murderer, Oedipus tell Tiresias, “you are the curse, the corruption of the land”(l. 401). Tiresias’ words displeases Oedipus so much, Oedipus tells Tiresias, “you, shameless- aren't you appalled to start up such a story? You think you can get away with this?”(l. 401-403). As Tiresias and Oedipus continue to bicker back and forth with each other, Oedipus’ anger enrages as far as getting Tiresias thrown away because his anger was peaking. Oedipus says, “yes, take him away. You're a nuisance here. Out of the way, the irritation’s gone”(l. 506-507). Oedipus then makes a statement to the chorus as if he were talking to all his people.

Encountering Conflict

From the beginning of the play, it is evident that Oedipus is a highly respected and honorable king, who is dedicated to his people and seeks to alleviate their troubles. One characteristic that seems constant throughout the beginning is Oedipus’ knack for overcoming conflict. The people of Thebes place Oedipus on a pedestal, which is evident when the Priest claims, “Your country calls you savior now for your zeal, your actions long ago” (59-60). One action to which the priest is referring is the solving of the Sphinx’s riddle, which rescued the people of Thebes from the torture of the Sphinx. When Thebes encountered this conflict of solving the riddle, Oedipus stepped up and succeeded in vanquishing the Sphinx. The Priest tells Oedipus that he is considered “first of men” (41) because he is highly regarded, but cannot reach the same status as the gods.

Now that Thebes is facing a deadly plague, the people turn once again to Oedipus, who discovers that the plague will disappear if the killer of Laius is found. The chorus cries out to the gods in their anguish, calling Thebes a “city of death” (211) and pleading with the gods to end their struggles. Oedipus, once again, steps up to the plate and volunteers to answer their prayers and rid the Theban people of their plague. Oedipus is confident he will uncover Laius’ murderer and bring peace again to the people of Thebes. He rid them of trouble once, and jumps at the opportunity to do so again, expecting to surmount this conflict as he did the previous one.