Premium Essay

Oedipus The King: The Hero Of Personal Autonomy

Submitted By
Words 1471
Pages 6
Oedipus the King: The Hero of Personal Autonomy in Inevitable Fate Tragedy
Abstract: Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, who was one of Athens’s three great tragic dramatists, is an indisputably classical tragedy in literature history. And Oedipus’s tragic fate, murdering his father and marrying his mother, is the most controversial point. This paper mainly analyzes the conflict between Oedipus’s spirit of personal autonomy and the oracle predetermined fate, and the causes of Oedipus’s inevitable tragedy.
Key word: Oedipus; personal autonomy; fate; inevitability
Introduction
Oedipus the King is based on a Greek myth that Oedipus killed his father and married to his mother, showing the Greek tragedy’s conflict rich of typical significance …show more content…
In the face of fate, he was not docile and obedient, but fought tooth and nail and managed to escape from the "divinity" prophecy. Then, he revealed the riddle of the Sphinx, rescued Thebes people from distress. Finally, in order to save the people from the plague, he was desperate to trace the murder of the former king; once the truth came out, he had the courage to take responsibility, offered to exile himself. For the misfortune of such a hero who had done countless good deeds for people and for the country, Sophocles was deeply indignant, issued a suspicion of the justice of God, accused the injustice and cruelty of fate, praised the protagonist’s strong will and heroic behavior in the struggle against fate. Therefore, in spite of the outcome is tragic, but this spirit knowing the inviolability of prophecy but violating, is an affirmation of the individual autonomy spirit, and a reflection of the advanced ideology of the Athens slave master democracy. The limitation of human is noticeable and the fate is irresistible in the conflict between human will and fate. However, only in the intense conflicts between people's will and the destined fate, we can realize how strong the will of people could be, and how laudable the spirit of people’s tenacious fighting against the fate is. The subjective initiative of human is placed in an important position, and the twists and turns of fate are in order to reflect …show more content…
Also, the word “tragedy” means “the song of goats”, which comes from the sacrificial rite of Dionysus, is well known in ancient Greek. But why tragedy has so close a relation to the sacrificial rate, which is asking for rich and fertile. Simon noted that only the protagonist of the tragedy to expiate the sins of human kind as a scapegoat could make sure the God feel people’s prayer and give good weather for the corps and health for people (2000). Zhu also claimed that ancient Greek tragedy is mainly about the relation between God and mankind, and if we are trying to appreciate it rationally without the background of primitive myths and the view of life of fatalism we will fail to grasp the essence of it (1989). Consequently, the manifest destiny theory is reflected by God’s complex and authoritative oracle. In Oedipus the King, God gave Oedipus’s s parents an oracle that their son would kill his father and marry his mother. This oracle predetermined Oedipus’s and his family’s fate. When Oedipus’s natural father heard the oracle, he ordered his servant to kill his son, but Oedipus finally survived dramatically. Ironically, Oedipus was adopted by King Polybus. What is worse, the oracle really occurred after he was told about the oracle and tried to avoid it. All these dramatic accidents are not unforeseeable but were designed by God. Oedipus is chosen to be the scapegoat for rescuing people from

Similar Documents

Free Essay

The Outline of English Literature

...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...

Words: 82733 - Pages: 331

Premium Essay

Philosophy & Ethics

...AS Religious Studies [pic] PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS Revision Summary Notes Revision Notes Foundation for the Study of Religion Part One: Philosophy of Religion Plato and the Forms Influence of Socrates • Socrates said that virtue is knowledge – to know what is right is to do what is right. • All wrongdoing is the result of ignorance – nobody chooses to do wrong deliberately. • Therefore, to be moral you must have true knowledge. The problem of the One and the Many Plato was trying to find a solution to the problem that although there is underlying stability in the world (sun comes up every morning), it is constantly changing (you never step into the same river twice). 1. An old theory about this problem is that we gain all knowledge from our senses – empirically. 2. Plato disagreed with this. He said that because the world is constantly changing, our senses cannot be trusted. Plato illustrated his idea in the dialogue, ‘Meno’: Socrates sets a slave boy a mathematical problem. The slave boy knows the answer, yet he has not been taught maths. Plato suggests that the slave boy remembers the answer to the problem, which has been in his mind all along. So, according to Plato, we don't learn new things, we remember them. In other words, knowledge is innate. Plato’s Theory of the Forms Plato believed that the world was divided into: 1. Reality and; 2. Appearance |REALITY ...

Words: 17188 - Pages: 69

Premium Essay

Learning Theory

...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...

Words: 98252 - Pages: 394

Premium Essay

Prose Fiction

...SECOND DRAFT Contents Preamble Chapter 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Background Rationale Aims Interface with the Junior Secondary Curriculum Principles of Curriculum Design Chapter 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 1 Introduction Literature in English Curriculum Framework Strands and Learning Targets Learning Objectives Generic Skills Values and Attitudes Broad Learning Outcomes Chapter 3 5 7 9 10 11 11 13 Curriculum Planning 3.1 Planning a Balanced and Flexible Curriculum 3.2 Central Curriculum and School-based Curriculum Development 3.2.1 Integrating Classroom Learning and Independent Learning 3.2.2 Maximizing Learning Opportunities 3.2.3 Cross-curricular Planning 3.2.4 Building a Learning Community through Flexible Class Organization 3.3 Collaboration within the English Language Education KLA and Cross KLA Links 3.4 Time Allocation 3.5 Progression of Studies 3.6 Managing the Curriculum – Role of Curriculum Leaders Chapter 4 1 2 2 3 3 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 21 Learning and Teaching 4.1 Approaches to Learning and Teaching 4.1.1 Introductory Comments 4.1.2 Prose Fiction 4.1.3 Poetry i 21 21 23 32 SECOND DRAFT 4.1.4 Drama 4.1.5 Films 4.1.6 Literary Appreciation 4.1.7 Schools of Literary Criticism 4.2 Catering for Learner Diversity 4.3 Meaningful Homework 4.4 Role of Learners Chapter 5 41 45 52 69 71 72 73 74 Assessment 5.1 Guiding Principles 5.2 Internal Assessment 5.2.1 Formative Assessment 5.2.2 Summative Assessment 5.3 Public Assessment 5.3.1 Standards-referenced...

Words: 41988 - Pages: 168

Premium Essay

Mahek

...Chapter 1 SIGMUND FREUD AN INTRODUCTION Sigmund Freud, pioneer of Psychoanalysis, was born on 6th May 1856 in Freiberg to a middle class family. He was born as the eldest child to his father’s second wife. When Freud was four years old, his family shifted and settled in Vienna. Although Freud’s ambition from childhood was a career in law, he decided to enter the field of medicine. In 1873, at the age of seventeen, Freud enrolled in the university as a medical student. During his days in the university, he did his research on the Central Nervous System under the guidance of German physician `Ernst Wilhelm Von Brucke’. Freud received his medical degree in 1881and later in 1883 he began to work in Vienna General Hospital. Freud spent three years working in various departments of the hospital and in 1885 he left his post at the hospital to join the University of Vienna as a lecturer in Neuropathology. Following his appointment as a lecturer, he got the opportunity to work under French neurologist Jean Charcot at Salpetriere, the famous Paris hospital for nervous diseases. So far Freud’s work had been entirely concentrated on physical sciences but Charcot’s work, at that time, concentrated more on hysteria and hypnotism. Freud’s studies under Charcot, which centered largely on hysteria, influenced him greatly in channelising his interests to psychopathology. In 1886, Freud established his private practice in Vienna specializing in nervous diseases...

Words: 155674 - Pages: 623

Free Essay

Hucksters

...LACAN AND CONTEMPORARY FILM EDITED BY TODD McGOWAN and SHEILA KUNKLE OTHER Other Press New York Copyright © 2004 Todd McGowan and Sheila Kunkle Production Editor: Robert D. Hack This book was set in 11 pt. Berkeley by Alpha Graphics, Pittsfield, N.H. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Allrightsreserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Other Press LLC, except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. For information write to Other Press LLC, 307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1807, New York, NY 10001. Or visit our website: www.otherpress.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGowan, Todd. Lacan and contemporary film / by Todd McGowan & Sheila Kunkle. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-59051-084-4 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures-Psychological aspects. 2. Psychoanalysis and motion pictures. 3. Lacan, Jacques, 1901- I. Kunkle, Sheila. II. Title. PN1995 .M379 2004 791.43'01 '9-dc22 2003020952 Contributors Paul Eisenstein teaches literature and film in the English department at Otterbein College, Columbus, Ohio, and is the author of Traumatic Encounters: Holocaust Representation and the Hegelian Subject (SUNY Press, 2003). Anna Kornbluh...

Words: 97016 - Pages: 389

Premium Essay

Policies of Tcs

...of JAWAHARLAL NEHRU The Discovery of India JAWAHARLAL NEHRU The Discovery of India DELHI OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD NEW YORK Oxford University ATHENS (Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0X2 61X2 OXFORD AUCKLAND CAPE TOWN CALCUTTA FLORENCE NEW YORK BANGKOK ISTANBUL MADRID PARIS BOMBAY DELHI KARACHI MELBOURNE SINGAPORE DAR ES SALAAM HONG KONG MADRAS NAIROBI TOKYO KUALA LUMPUR MEXICO CITY TAIPEI TORONTO and associates in BERLIN IBADAN © Rajiv Gandhi 1985 First published 1946 by The Signet Press, Calcutta Centenary Edition 1989 Sixth impression 1994 Printed at Rekha Printers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi 110020 and published by Neil O'Brien, Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110001 To my colleagues and co-prisoners in the A h m a d n a g a r Fort Prison C a m p from 9 August 1942 to 28 March 1945 FOREWORD My father's three books — Glimpses of World History, An Autobiograpy and The Discovery of India — have been my companions through life. It is difficult to be detached about them. Indeed Glimpses was' written for me. It remains t h e best introduction to the story of man for young and growing people in India and all over the world. The Autobiography has been acclaimed as not merely the quest of one individual for freedom, b u t as an insight into the making of the mind of new India. I h a d to correct the proofs of Discovery while my father was away, I think in Calcutta, and I was...

Words: 198694 - Pages: 795

Premium Essay

Cyrus the Great

...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...

Words: 221284 - Pages: 886

Premium Essay

Barron 3500

...6 Build Your Vocabulary ■ ■ ■ ■ The SAT High-Frequency Word List The SAT Hot Prospects Word List The 3,500 Basic Word List Basic Word Parts be facing on the test. First, look over the words on our SAT High-Frequency Word List, which you’ll find on the following pages. Each of these words has appeared (as answer choices or as question words) from eight to forty times on SATs published in the past two decades. Next, look over the words on our Hot Prospects List, which appears immediately after the High-Frequency List. Though these words don’t appear as often as the high-frequency words do, when they do appear, the odds are that they’re key words in questions. As such, they deserve your special attention. Now you’re ready to master the words on the High-Frequency and Hot Prospects Word Lists. First, check off those words you think you know. Then, look up all the words and their definitions in our 3,500 Basic Word List. Pay particular attention to the words you thought you knew. See whether any of them are defined in an unexpected way. If they are, make a special note of them. As you know from the preceding chapters, SAT often stumps students with questions based on unfamiliar meanings of familiar-looking words. Use the flash cards in the back of this book and create others for the words you want to master. Work up memory tricks to help yourself remember them. Try using them on your parents and friends. Not only will going over these high-frequency words reassure you that you...

Words: 92038 - Pages: 369

Free Essay

Literary Theory

...Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction ‘Jonathan Culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.’ J. Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine ‘An impressive and engaging feat of condensation . . . the avoidance of the usual plod through schools and approaches allows the reader to get straight to the heart of the crucial issue for many students, which is: why are they studying literary theory in the first place? . . . an engaging and lively book.’ Patricia Waugh, University of Durham Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in 15 languages worldwide. Very Short Introductions available from Oxford Paperbacks: ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes Augustine Henry Chadwick THE BIBLE John Riches Buddha Michael Carrithers BUDDHISM Damien Keown CLASSICS Mary Beard and John Henderson Continental Philosophy Simon Critchley Darwin Jonathan Howard DESCARTES Tom Sorell EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Paul Langford The European Union John Pinder Freud Anthony Storr Galileo Stillman Drake Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood HINDUISM Kim Knott HISTORY John H. Arnold HUME A. J...

Words: 45107 - Pages: 181

Free Essay

Literature

...Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction ‘Jonathan Culler has always been about the best person around at explaining literary theory without oversimplifying it or treating it with polemical bias. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction is an exemplary work in this genre.’ J. Hillis Miller, University of California, Irvine ‘An impressive and engaging feat of condensation . . . the avoidance of the usual plod through schools and approaches allows the reader to get straight to the heart of the crucial issue for many students, which is: why are they studying literary theory in the first place? . . . an engaging and lively book.’ Patricia Waugh, University of Durham Jonathan Culler LITERARY THEORY A Very Short Introduction 1 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford o x2 6 d p Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Jonathan Culler 1997 The moral rights...

Words: 44695 - Pages: 179

Premium Essay

Will Do Next Time

...book and because we enjoy talking and writing about pedagogy. Yet when we recall the discussions we’ve had with colleagues about instructor’s manuals over the years, two unnerving comments stick with us: “I don’t find them much help”; and (even worse) “I never look at them.” And, if the truth be told, we were often the people making such points! With these statements in mind, we have done some serious soul-searching about the texts that so many teachers—ourselves included—frequently malign or ignore. As we have considered our quandary, we have come face-to-face with the central paradox that characterizes the genre: Teaching manuals tend to be distant, mechanical, impersonal, and lifeless, when in fact good teaching is immediate, flexible, personal, and lively. In this manual, therefore, we have attempted to communicate to fellow teachers...

Words: 159106 - Pages: 637

Free Essay

Sartre's What Is Literature?

...> 168159 CD >m Gift of YALE UNIVERSITY With the aid of the ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION 1949 OSMANIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Call No. Author %&V/S#/ 2-^ & Accession No. - . This bookihould be returned on or before the date last marked below. WHAT IS LITERATURE? JEAN-PAUL SARTRE Translated from the French by BERNARD FRECHTMAN PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY NEW YORK Copyright, 1949, by Philosophical Library, Inc. 15 EAST 40th Street, New York, N.Y. Printed in the United States of America TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword I II What Why is Writing? Write? Whom Does One Write? 7 38 III For IV Situation of the Writer in 1947 161 Index 299 67 FOREWORD want to engage yourself," writes a young imbecile, "what are you waiting for? Join the Communist Party." A great writer who engaged himself often and disengaged himself still more often, but who has forgotten, said to me, "The worst artists are the most engaged. Look "If you at the Soviet painters" "You want tres is to murder An old critic gently complained, literature. spread out insolently all Contempt for belles-let- through your review." A petty mind calls me pigheaded, which for him is evidently the highest insult. An author who barely crawled from name sometimes awakens men accuses me of not being one war to the other and whose languishing memories in old concerned with immortality; he knows, thank God, any number of people whose chief hope it is. In the eyes of an American...

Words: 94432 - Pages: 378

Premium Essay

First Filipino

...THE FIRST FILIPINO Republie of the Philippines Department of Education & Culture NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION Manila FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines JUAN L. MANUEL Secretary of Education & Culture ESTEBAN A. DE OCAMPO Chairman DOMINGO ABELLA Member HORACIO DE LA COSTA, S. J. Member GODOFREDO L. ALCASID Ex-Oficio Member TEODORO A. AGONCILLO Member EMILIO AGUILAR CRUZ Member SERAFIN D. QUIASON Ex-Oficio Member FLORDELIZA K. MILITANTE Exccutive Director RAMON G. CONCEPCION Chief, Administrative Division BELEN V. FORTU Chief, Budget & Fiscal Division JOSE C. DAYRIT Chief, Research & Publications Division AVELINA M. CASTAÑEDA Chief, Special & Commemorative Events Division ROSAURO G. UNTIVERO Historical Researcher & Editor EULOGIO M. LEAÑO Chief Historical Writer-Translator & Publications Officer GENEROSO M. ILANO Auditor JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896) THE FIRST FILIPINO A Biography of José Rizal by LEÓN Ma. GUERRERO with an introduction by CARLOS QUI R INO ( Awarded First Prize in the Rizal Biography Contest held under the auspices of the José Rizal National Centennial Commission in 1961) NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION Manila 1974 First Printing 1963 Second Printing 1965 Third Printing 1969 Fourth Printing 1971 Fifth Printing 1974 This Book is dedicated by the Author to the other Filipinos Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice, Shakespeare: °the/Lo. Paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all ; but...

Words: 203166 - Pages: 813

Premium Essay

Introduction to Psychology

...TPS 101: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY TPS 101 serves as the beginning course in psychology; as such, it is broad in scope. The course will introduce students to the history of psychology, and current paradigms and theories. We will cover neuroscience, sensation, perception, memory, and language, stress and health psychology, personality and social psychology, intelligence, and developmental psychology. Because of time limitations, none of these topics can be covered in great depth. The reference textbooks and the material presented in class will serve as the primary sources for the material to be covered. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. It is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. It is largely concerned with humans, although the behaviour and mental processes of animals can also be part of psychology research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g. animal cognition and ethnology), or somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison (including comparative psychology). Origins of the psychology Near the end of 19th century things started drawing together. Questions raised by philosophers were being...

Words: 84844 - Pages: 340