Characteristics of the characters of Oedipus Rex

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King Oedipus It is a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles who, along with authors such as Aeschylus and Euripides, is considered the father of greek tragedy. The play tells the tragic story of Oedipus and is, without a doubt, one of the great tragedies of all time. The myth of Oedipus has inspired numerous literary, artistic, pictorial and sculptural creations of all time.

His relevance is such that Freud, father of psychoanalysis, takes the name of the Greek protagonist to name his study of the loving tendency that children may experience towards their mothers, calling it "the complex of Oedipus". In this lesson from a TEACHER we will explain the Characteristics of the characters of King Oedipus.

Index

1. Introduction and argument of Oedipus Rex
2. Oedipus, the central character of Oedipus the King
3. Main characters of Oedipus Rex

The Greek tragedy of King Oedipus tells the story of how

Some time later, Oedipus learns of the oracle's prediction and, fearful of killing his father, the king of Corinth (who was not really his biological father), leaves the city of Corinth. On the run from him, he meets Laius, his true father, and kills him believing him to be a thief. In this way, the prophecy made by the oracle is fulfilled, although none of the characters know it yet.

Oedipus arrives in Thebes and there he solves the enigma and defeats the Sphinx monster., which had terrified the residents of the city. With the death of King Laius, the Thebans name Oedipus their king in gratitude for having saved them. Thus, Oedipus marries the queen, Jocasta, his biological mother and they live happily for a time, until Oedipus discovers his true identity.

When this happens, Jocasta, full of remorse, commits suicide and Oedipus gouges out his eyes and flees into exile.

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Oedipus is the protagonist of the drama. Future king of Thebes, son of the current king Laius and his wife, Jocasta. By various chances of fate, Oedipus ends up killing his father and marrying his mother, thus fulfilling a prophecy made by the oracle. He is a brave, honest and just man. The perfect king for Thebes because he cares for and protects his people. However, despite his good intentions, he is unable to evade his tragic, unjust and painful fate.

This is one of the reasons why the play is considered a classic tragedy, formed by characters that symbolize universal emotions, to those who suffer misfortunes such as deaths, suicides, epidemics or madness, and all this is told using a cultured language and with a high register.

Fate is written on us and, like Oedipus, despite our many attempts to escape from it, sooner or later we will succumb to his will. This thought encompasses the entire work. His psychological profile is very well defined and, the truth is that Oedipus appears to us as a brave man and, above all, as a fair man. He works daily to protect both his people and his family. But no matter how hard he tries, Oedipus is unable to outwit his fate.

Oedipus is the character who embodies the human emotions more universal, therefore, we see that this protagonist experiences a great variety of feelings during the play, such as anger, pain, love, rage and helplessness.

One of the successes that make this tragedy written in Ancient Greece continue to be valid and current today is the characterization of the characters. The author, Sophocles, creates and portrays characters that have passed into the collective imagination and have become universal characters that survive beyond literary borders.

Next we are going to briefly expose what the others are main characters of King Oedipus:

• Jocasta: queen of Thebes, wife of Laius and mother of Oedipus. When her son is born, her husband abandons him and many years later, he returns with the name Oedipus and marries her to her. When Yocasta discovers it, she cannot bear the humiliation, her conscience corrodes her and she takes her life from her. Despite not being the main character, Yocasta is fundamental for the future of the work, because it is because of her in a certain way that her son Oedipus suffers so many misfortunes. However, she also bears his guilt and suffers as much or more than his offspring. Furthermore, he also shows cowardice by not being able to face incest and move on.
• Laius: king of Thebes, husband of Jocasta and father of Oedipus. He will be killed by his son without knowing it, and this will mean that the prophecy is fulfilled. To avoid this, Laius abandons his son Oedipus, thinking that this way he would avoid his own death and without knowing that it is precisely the despicable act of abandoning a child that will lead him to die at the hands of this.
• Tiresias: is a seer from Thebes who reveals the dramatic truth to the protagonist. He is a character with an important role in the play because, paradoxically, he is blind, he is unable to see, but his capacity for deduction and reasoning allows him to discover and reveal the true truth to Oedipus.
• The chorus: the chorus is a very important minor character in Greek tragedy. It is considered as a collective character since it is made up of several members. Its function is to represent the Theban people, who feel indebted to Oedipus for having delivered them from the Sphinx. The choir believes in the oracle, in the force of destiny and despises anyone who dares to challenge it. He is a collective character that appears throughout the entire play but in no way conditions the thoughts or actions of the protagonists. The chorus symbolizes consciousness and the voice of experience. At the end of the play, he pronounces with a kind of moral about the imposition of destiny on human becoming. King Oedipus is a work that analyzes the human psyche.

In this other lesson we offer you a literary analysis of Oedipus Rex so that you can get closer to this classic work of Greek literature.

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