Plot Outline Oedipus the King A plague has stricken Thebes. The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city. Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle.
Creon is hurt by this accusation and responds, "This accusation against me by our ruler Oedipus, it's outrageous." (Sophocles 514) Unfortunately, as the book closes, Creon looses his virtues as he becomes the new ruler of Thebes. As the story of Antigone starts, it begins with Oedipus' sons, Polynices and Eteocles. These brothers joined two different armies and ended up killing each in fratricide. Antigone, daughter of Oedipus tried to bury Polynices after the battle, but Creon has
He leaves Corinth and travels to Thebes, and on the way he unknowingly kills his father during a quarrel. After saving Thebes from the Sphinx, he is given the hand of Queen Jocasta, his mother, for marriage and he becomes the new king of Thebes. One of the many reasons Oedipus is a coward is that he didn’t want to face his parent s again. His thought at the moment when he blinds himself is that if he killed himself he will see his real parents in the underworld, who he had committed those crimes against. Instead of repenting for his sins he escapes them.
In Oedipus the King, one trait that makes Oedipus a tragic hero is that he is responsible for his own fate. Oedipus marries his mother, Queen Jocasta, and kills his father, King Lauis. When Oedipus is communicating with the city of Thebes he says, “Not pointed out as wedded to the one who weaned me. Now I am god-abandoned a son of sin and sorrows all incest-sealed with the womb that bore me” (74). Also, when the official who is telling the city of Thebes that Oedipus blinded himself he says, “He shouts for all the barriers to be unbarred and he displayed to all of Thebes, his father’s murderer, his mothers…no, a word too foul to say…”(71).
Oedipus starts his own downfall by bringing in a prophet to discover what was causing the plague. He discovers the murderer of Laius must be killed or exiled from the land for the plague to halt. Oedipus now takes the situation into his own hands and is determined to find Laius’ murderer. He starts off with a speech asking his people if the murderer or anybody who knows the murderer would step forward and announce him or herself. If they responded the only punishment they would receive would be banishment from the kingdom.
Is John Proctor a tragic hero and is this play an example of a tragedy? John Proctor portrays the tragic hero in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” Proctor, the protagonist of the piece, is revealed to the audience in his time of anguish and struggle, making his untimely death all the more unfortunate. In this tragedy, Proctor fights to save the town from insanity and chooses his death, rather than shame, in his struggle. The elements of a tragic hero are applied to Proctor in order for the audience to a feel sympathetic connection to a character who committed an unholy sin of adultery. John Proctor though not of high noble stature is, nonetheless, a good man and is highly regarded in Salem.
Both of them did ultimately self-destruct, but there was an enormous amount of force from outside sources that contributed to the path of self-destruction. The play Oedipus starts out with Oedipus discovering there is a curse on Thebes. Oedipus sends his brother-in-law to Apollo to find the source of the curse. Kreon returns from his journey and informs Oedipus that to end the curse they must find out how the former king Laius was murdered. Oedipus starts an investigation and discovers some strange things.
Tragic heroes are people that are fated by the Gods or by supernatural force to doom destruction or at least to great suffering. Oedipus is to blame for the plague because he didn’t know that Laius was his real father and that he was sleeping with his own mother. In order to pay for what he has done he stabbed his eyes out but not fully killing himself because he wanted to please the gods and asked Creon to exile himself from king. He to blame for his downfall because when Jocasta tried to steer him in another direction he chose to go the opposite way which caused him to find out the truth. He chose to kill Laius and find out what his real back round was instead of doing his regular routine.
In this particular scene, Macbeth attempts to persuade the two murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. He goes into lengthy speech of condemning Banquo and using effective tactics of persuasion to convince the murderers. At first, Macbeth uses logical appeal to sway the murderers into wanting revenge on Banquo for making their lives a living hell. Macbeth exclaims, “That it was he, in the times past, which held you so under fortunes…” (3.1.84-85). He also tells the murderers that Banquo is blameworthy for their tragic, unhappy lives.
Oedipus the King A plague has stricken Thebes. The citizens gather outside the palace of their king, Oedipus, asking him to take action. Oedipus replies that he already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn how to help the city. Creon returns with a message from the oracle: the plague will end when the murderer of Laius, former king of Thebes, is caught and expelled; the murderer is within the city. Oedipus questions Creon about the murder of Laius, who was killed by thieves on his way to consult an oracle.