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A master artisan and innovator of the Greek tragedy, Sophocles's insightful plays have held their value throughout countless time periods and societies. Sophocles was the second of the three great Greek authors of tragedies. Born in Colonus, a small city not too far from Athens, Sophocles grew to know the ways of people and the lives they lead. He was well known for depicting people as they are instead of the way they should be like his teacher, Euripides. His tragedies earned him many prizes in various drama competitions. He served as an Athenian general and as a member of delegations to other states.
He also played an active role in religion in many Athenians lives. Sophocles wrote one of his greatest plays, Oedipus at Colonus, when he was nearly 90. Out of over 120 plays written by Sophocles, only 7 complete plays survived. Adding paintings to his works, followed by suspense and intrigue earned Sophocles the honor of being one of the best known playwright from his time, and one that the world would never confuse with his followers that want to aspire to influence literature as a Through the use of common literary techniques, Sophocles was able to express themes and ideas that reflect all of humankind. On particular idea was that Sophocles believed that hubris is destructive and will eventually lead to one's demise.
Oedipus, the proud king of Thebes has such a fatal flaw. His hubris alienates Teiresias, Creon, and his people. Teiresias attempts to explain to Oedipus the severity of Oedipus actions, but Oedipus only shuns Teiresias. No matter how potent the signs, Oedipus "would not yield, " (Scene 5, Line 47). Oedipus's hubris prevents him from recognizing his self-destructive behavior. Instead, he accuses Teiresias of disloyalty and succumbing to bribery.
He feels Teiresias has "sold out" (Scene 5, Line 65) and that Oedipus was "the butt for the dull arrows of doddering fortunetellers" (Scene 5, Line 42). Such inventions of Oedipus prove to be both counter-productive and foolish, for Teiresias did speak the truth and Oedipus is only further drawn into his false reality dictated by hubris. Oedipus's fatal flaw overcomes him in a discussion with his son. Creon confronts t Oedipus about his reckless and unreasonable actions dealing with Jocasta.
His hubris transcends his better judgment and causes Oedipus to become defensive. Oedipus then ignores his son's recommendations on the basis of age and seniority as follows: "You consider it right for a man of my years and experience to go to a school a boy?" (Scene 3, Line 95). His anger intensifies until he explodes at his son, "Fool, adolescent fool!" (Scene 3, Line 114). At that point, Oedipus was far too immersed in his own foolish pride to The resolution of this wonderful but tragic story is Oedipus's loss of everything dear to him. Oedipus is left a pitiful wreck, "I am alone guilty. ", "My own heart...
darkness to final darkness", "I have been rash and foolish. ", "To risk everything for stubborn pride. " (Scene 5, Lines 121, 87, 143, and 93 respectively). Oedipus is in such a position because he allowed hubris to While Oedipus did not directly kill his family, his foolish pride did, "I have killed wife. " (Scene, 5 Line 135). Jocasta committed suicide because her situation, which was dictated by Oedipus, seemed hopeless, "hanged herself... father had stolen her away... " (Scene 5, Line 60). His hubris had led to the Oedipus is the representation of all humanity and his misfortunes were brought about through hubris, which eventually leads to unhappiness, demise, and or destruction. Sophocles presented this idea to his audience over two centuries ago, and it is still a subject of much conversation.
His plays have influenced past works and they will continue to affect literary works to come Bibliography:
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