In the plays, Oedipus and Antigone, by Sophocles, the character Creon best portrays a tragic hero as defined by Aristotle. ... King Oedipus accuses Creon of trying to overthrow him from his rule. ... Creon is the brother to the Queen before she commits suicide After Oedipus's dethronement Creon is then dubbed King of Thebes. ... In the play, Oedipus, we see that Creon is generally accepted as a dignified man among the chorus. ... In Sophocles" plays, the chorus symbolizes the noblemen of Greek time, which made the voice of the people known to the king and higher aristocracy. ...

• Word Count: 785
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In Oedipus the King, Iocasta says that Laius was slain at a place where three roads meet. This crossroads is referred to a number of times during the play, and it symbolizes the crucial moment, long before the events of the play, when Oedipus began to fulfill the dreadful prophecy that he would murder his father and marry his mother. ... In Oedipus the king, the crossroads is part of the distant past, dimly remembered, and Oedipus was not aware at the time that he was making a fateful decision (Murray 59). ... At the end of this tragic story, when Oedipus gouges out his eyes, the events in Oed...

• Word Count: 1264
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Sophocles was a great writer of tragedies who wrote Oedipus the King modeling Aristotle's theory of a tragic play. ... The definition of hamartia can be described as any tragic flaw, and an example of this in the play is Oedipus" pride, or hubris. ... He called for punishment on the man who killed Laius, the king and Oedipus" estranged father, when it was his hand that slain the king. ... As the protagonist of the play, Oedipus parallels Aristotle's theory of a tragedy. ... Sophocles followed the definition of a tragedy throughout the play, characterizing Oedipus a true tragic pr...

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Oedipus, the main character, remains on stage for nearly the entire play, sets up all the tragedy. ... The theme relative to the tragedy like Oedipus Rex is crucial to the play's long - lasting appeal. ... And when Oedipus says, "whoever killed king Laius might who knows? ... The fundamental irony in Oedipus Rex that stems from the fact which the audience knows king Oedipus's true identity, while he is unaware of it. ... The razor-sharp irony in Oedipus Rex is one of the elements that has given the play its power to spellbind audiences for thousands of years and remained popular toda...

• Word Count: 703
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Sophocles composed more than 100 plays, of which seven complete tragedies and fragments of 80 or 90 others preserved. ... Two important innovations he was noted for was increasing the number of actors from two to three, thus lessening the influence of the chorus and making possible greater complication of the plot and more effective portrayal of characters by contrast and coincidence; and he changed the composing of plays in groups of three, each of them part of a central myth or theme, and made each play an individual psychological and dramatic unity. Oedipus Rex is a tragedy written by S...

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Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. ... In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. ... When his nemesis occurs, the chorus, plays a crucial role in generating sympathy towards Oedipus. ... This contrasts with Oedipus at the beginning of the play, but nevertheless foreshadows Oedipus's own future, with the anargnorsis causing him to blind himself. ... The tragic nature of the play, is not only brought out by Oedipus&#...

• Word Count: 1270
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In Robert Fagles' translation of the play "Oedipus the King", Sophocles explores many important themes of Greek tragedy such as fate and free will, wisdom and knowledge, determination and power through the effective use of his language, symbols and motifs and setting. ... Firstly, the story is one that introduces the main character, Oedipus, very positively. ... " This immediately portrays Oedipus as a character who readers are appealed to due to his attributes that are conveyed during the beginning of the play. This is very important because it is due to this reason that w...

• Word Count: 511
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Oedipus Rex Tragedy Essay In Greece people wrote many plays for entertainment. ... "Oedipus Rex" displays many characteristics of this form of literature; such as a tragic hero, a dynamic character, and the role that fate plays in the outcome of his existence. ... Another form of literature involved in "Oedipus Rex" is the role that fate plays in the play. ... During the play, Oedipus's fate is determined and the truth of the prophecy is revealed. ... At the beginning of the play, Oedipus shows us that he is a dynamic character by solving the riddle and becoming king. ...

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• Grade Level: High School

Aeschylus is said to have written about 90 plays. ... It is believed to be the third play of a trilogy, the first two being Laius and Oedipus. ... The seven extant plays are Antigone, Oedipus Tyrannus or Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King), Electra, Ajax, Trachiniae (Maidens of Trachis), Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus (produced posthumously in 401 BC). ... Oedipus Tyrannus and Electra date from 430 to 415 BC. ... Oedipus Tyrannus, which is justly famed for its flawless construction, i...

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In looking at only two characters in Greek writings; Oedipus from Oedipus the King written by Sophocles and Medea from Medea written by Euripides, we can see two different reactions to adversity in tragedy. ... "But, of course, the heart of the play is the quarrel between Medea and Jason, the deserted wife and the deserting husband" (Page xiv). ... Jason fell in love with the daughter of Kreon, the king of Corinth, and left Medea in order to wed the princess. ... He was given to the king and queen of Corinth where he was raised to adulthood. ... It comes to light that Oedipus was not the son ...

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• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

For example, in the production of Antigone, a male will play the characters of Antigone and Ismene, the two daughters of Oedipus and Iokaste. ... In context and in performance, the tragic heroine of Antigone is in fact Antigone, niece of King Kreon, sister of Ismene, and fiancé of Haimon. ... At the end of the play, Antigone hangs herself in her cell, Haimon stabs himself in his own misery, and King Kreon is left alone. ... Antigone fits this description of Aristotle's ideal tragic heroine because her insistence on her desire to bury Polynices to the point of her own death locat...

• Word Count: 1410
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

This makes the two intertextual because they both play off of each other. ... This is achieved by using dramatic irony, the prophecy that guided Oedipus towards the truth regarding his child hood, and key scenes in the play, which help to build the audiences understanding and opinions concerning his situation. Through the prophecy alone, Oedipus was doomed even before his life had even begun. ... Although it may not be as strong as seen in Oedipus it is still there. Now in Oedipus we see this happen when he claims that when he finds the man who killed the king that he will suffer as the pro...

• Word Count: 1513
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

He is believed to have written over 90 dramatic plays, but only seven have survived. The suppliants is his earliest known play, while the Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, Choefori and Eumenides) is regarded as his most important work.Other plays that have survived are The seven against Thebes, Prometheus bound and The Persians. ... His plays slashed at social and political abuses. ... Sophocles Sophocles, the third of the great tragic poets of Ancient Greece, wrote more than 100 plays, all in verse. Only six complete ones have been preserved: Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Oedipus the King, Philocte...

• Word Count: 2001
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School