71 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
71 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
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___|: |___|: \ ___|: \ DizDate: 12/95
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_______\___ \___ \___ ___\_______ WordCount: 553
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<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>| |: | |____| ___|<7C><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>| | |: | |: |<7C><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> Subject/Topic is on:
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<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>| |: | |: | |<7C><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> [Essay on Oedipus Rex ]
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----\___|: |\__ |\__ |---- [ ]
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<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>\___|cd!|___/'<27><><EFBFBD>|___/'<27><><EFBFBD> [ ]
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`, a c e ,` [ (A Paper) ]
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`, e s s a y s ,` [ ]
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Grade Level: [ ]Grade School Type of Work: [x]Essay/Report/Term
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[x]High School [ ]Informational
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[ ]College [ ]Notes
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[ ]Misc
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>>Chop Here><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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Oedipus Rex
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Oedipus began Oedipus Rex as a king, only to end the tale as a blinded
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beggar. Oedipus' fall from his kingly status was not by accident or
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because of some other person. Oedipus is the only one that can be blamed
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for his misfortune. Oedipus' character traits are shown most clearly
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during his spiralling downfall, thinking he is "a simple man, who knows
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nothing", yet knowing more than he realizes by the end of the story.
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Throughout the story, Oedipus' haste or lack of patience is most
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evident. Wishing to end this mystery of the death of Laios as quickly as
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possible, Oedipus passes an edict to kill or exile anyone who withholds
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information. Teiresias tested Oedipus' patience in the beginning of the
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story with the information he was holding; "You'd try a stone's patience!
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Out with it.". This impatient accusing of Teiresias proved to be bad,
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especially since Teiresias foretold the ending of the story. If Oedipus
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had been more patient and waited, he might have not been quite so upset
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about the future, nor shaken up about what was to happen.
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However, that one trait did not alone take away his position of high
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authority. Oedipus displayed anger throughout the whole story, which did
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not help him at all. During the story, we learn of Oedipus' anger as he
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knocked a passerby at the meeting of the three highways; "I struck him in
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my rage". Later, this passerby whom he angrily and quickly killed, was
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revealed to be Laios, Oedipus' father. Oedipus' anger also quickly
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shifted his judgement of Teiresias. "We are in your[Teiresias] hands.
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There is no fairer duty", Oedipus' respect for Teiresias quickly changed as
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Teiresias refused to tell of what was the trouble's cause. Oedipus began
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claiming that "Creon has brought this decrepit fortune teller" to mean that
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Teiresias was thought of as a traitor in Oedipus' thinking. Oedipus' anger
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is also shown as he begins to insult Teiresias by calling him a "wicked old
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man". Oedipus' anger throughout the beginning of the play hindered
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himself.
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The final trait that was Oedipus' greatest enemy throughout the
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entirity of the play was his own truthfulness. Whenever new facts
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presented themselves, Oedipus gave them an honest look. As soon as it was
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suspect that Oedipus was involved, he acknowledged it; "I think that I
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myself may be accurst by my own ignorant edict". Oedipus never held back
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any evidence pointing to his possible future eviction and loss of his
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kingly status. As the plot grew to the uppermost point, Oedipus persisted
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testimony of the shepherd as he was "of dreadful hearing, yet he must hear"
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more. This trait was the binding trait that brought Oedipus' downfall. If
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Oedipus hid all the facts concerning himself, he could have easily buried
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this as nobody would know that he killed his father nor slept with his
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mother.
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The decline of Oedipus' was started by himself. His traits of anger,
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haste, and truthfulness, each helped accelerate his decline of power.
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Unfortuanately, for Oedipus, this decline of power led to the plucking of
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his own eyes. "Oedipus, noblest of all the line of Kadmos, have condemned
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myself to enjoy these things no more, by my own malediction, expelling that
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man whom the gods declared to be a defilement in the house of Laios."
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