Anything in Excess is negative Oedipus The King by Sophocles Essay Sample
To travel to far is every bit bad as to fall short. Confucius. Everything should be done in moderateness and there should be a healthy equilibrium in all state of affairss and facets of life. Something taken excessively far is the equal to something non taken far plenty ; both constructs are flawed and do confliction. These are the beliefs that the Grecian Gods held and besides imposed on their people. Know thy ego ; nil in surplus was inscribed at Temple Apollo at Delphi in Ancient Greek.
Temple Apollo is known to be the most sacred topographic point in the Grecian universe. Oedipus the male monarch of Thebes went against the word of the Gods by making many things in surplus. He did this by holding inordinate pride and choler. Not merely that he besides he besides held inordinate power and control over the people and occurrences environing him which led to his hubris. All of this excess led to Oedipuss ruin as a leader. a boy. a hubby and a male parent. Had he displayed all of these qualities in moderateness he might hold been spared some of effects that he sorrowfully faced in the terminal despite his best efforts to avoid populating out the atrocious prognostications that were chosen for him.
Some one one time suitably said Temper get you in problem but pride supports you at that place. What does this hold to make with Oedipus? Well Pride is an property which Oedipus has in excess. Another word for inordinate pride is Hubris. It is good known and established that hubris is Oedipuss tragic defect. Oedipus shows that he has a great sense pride and assurance refering his abilities as a leader but when Theriases efforts to bespeak to Oedipus that he is the 1 who murdered Lauis his existent male parent.
alternatively of seeing the honestness in Teiresiass words or sing both sides of the spectrum Oedipus thinks that Teiresias is his enemy and is doing this accusals in an act of green-eyed monster He says Ah. wealths and royalty. and humor matched against humor In the race of life. must they ever be mated with enviousness ( Sophocles. 36 ) . Harmonizing to Greek Law Any individual or thing that goes against the word of the Gods or any sacred expressions would finally confront the wrath of the Gods necessarily ; making this would reconstruct the natural balance of things.
In Oedipuss instance the hubris is replaced by shame or compunction.Despite all of this even towards the terminal of the drama Oedipus is full of pride he displays this when he chooses his ain penalty he decides that he must be banished. Furthermore. He decides he should no longer see ; he blinds himself by knifing his eyes. No affair whether he chose this or non its was the penalty that the Gods and already chosen for him and possibly in the act of making this he showed that he knew he had to lose his pride in order to put things right ; he had to step down. Similarly Jocasta besides has extra pride. She believes she is higher so the Gods ; when she thinks that she can the prognostication of the Sophocles by holding merely one kid and disabling via the act of adhering his pess together and abandoning him.
By perpetrating this act she shows that in her position that she is more cagey and powerful so the Gods. She believes she can alter what is destined to go on by the Gods. Possibly the Gods knew the disposition of the existences that they created there forward they wrote for things to go on in the manner they did so in the terminal things would equilibrate themselves out one time once more ; reconstructing the natural order of things.It has already been established that it is Oedipuss temper that gets him into problem in many occasions. When Oedipus is angry he commits many offenses unwittingly. He killed his male parent accidentally over the most nominal thing ; person pushed him out of the manner and he struck them and killed everyone else that was at that place. He tells the narrative himself to Jocasta I came to the topographic point where three roads join. I met a trumpeter followed by a Equus caballus drawn passenger car.
and a adult male seated in this. merely as you have described.The leader approximately ordered me out of the manner ; and his venerable maestro joined in with a ugly bid. It was the driver that thrust me aside.
and him I struck. for I was angry. The old adult male saw it tilting from the passenger car. Waited until I passed. so prehending for weapon The drivers tow drawn-out prod. struck me on the caput He paid with involvement for his audacity ; quick as lightning.
the staff in his right manus did its work ; he tumbled headlong out of the passenger car. and every adult male of them there I killed ( Sophocles. 48 ) . In his surplus of choler he fails to see what is blatantly placed in forepart of him and he ceases to utilize his encephalon or any principle he commits Acts of the Apostless in hastiness and has small to cognize forbearance for any logical thinking.
He strikes the adult male at the passenger car for small or no ground which he does non cognize yet is his male parent ; he has a homicidal disposition.He dismisses Teiresias without of all time giving him a opportunity to openly state what he wants excessively. He does non allow Teiresias complete what hes stating because he gets excessively angry excessively fast with out even listening to everything with an unfastened head he jumps to decisions and does non utilize or listen to any logical thinking. When Teiresias calls him the curst defiler of the land Oedipus instantly becomes angered and attempts to hush him at one time with menaces You are state it! Have you no shame at all? And do you anticipate to get away the effect? ( Sophocles. 35 ) . Alternatively. if he had questioned Teiresias about what he intend by that statement or asked him for grounds.
By holding control over his choler Oedipus could hold been knowing to the truth Oklahoman.Charles A. Beard wrote that Whom the Gods would destruct. they foremost make mad with power.
This can be seen as rather true if one takes into history the fact that Oedipus ne’er asked for the place of male monarch. it was given to him by the Gods. possibly they did this intentionally every bit good as purposefully merely so when he realizes the truth he falls from a higher topographic point ( as male monarch ) and the autumn is more painful ; he pays with more compunction for his wickednesss.
He has fallen from grace ; in the eyes of his people. This is perchance the monetary value he pays for seeking to get away the prognostication. Having excessively much power and control leads Oedipus to go chesty and blind to anyones concluding or any marks that point towards his biggest truth ; he killed his male parent and married his female parent.Every clip Theriases attempts to suggest the truth to Oedipus I know.
as you do non. that you are living/in a iniquitous brotherhood with the one you love/living in ignorance of your ain undoing ( Sophocles. 36 ) . He reacts with choler and brings forth the fact that he saved Thebes from catastrophe and was loved and admired by all Thebans including the seniors. He does non believe that he could be capable of such workss. And every clip some uncertainty fills his bosom his new powerful place forces him to rapidly force those ideas off. He becomes over confident after all this power was and place was offered to him by the Gods he did non inquire for it ; it was a gift or a wages for his good workss.
A individual who smokes. or goes out into the Sun excessively frequently with out protection takes the hazard of developing malignant neoplastic disease. Everyone eats nutrient ; thats how we get energy to map.
Eating to much can take to fleshiness. Fleshiness can forestall us from executing many normal undertakings to best of our capablenesss further more ; it can even take to decease. Similarly we all get angry now and so. we all feel proud of our achievements and experience that we are worthy of regard and esteem and we all at one point or another have had authorization over person or something else. Yet the point is to bask these facets of life instead so to take these which we things we enjoy to an extreme where they get down to command our lives and actions.That is was accordingly happened to Oedipus ; everything that he did he did it to such an extreme that it became damaging to him instead and no longer brought him felicity or peace. Had he non been so proud.
and thought so high and mighty of himself he could hold perchance repented for his misbehaviors which truthfully he committed unwittingly and in hastiness without destroying his life and being sent into expatriate. In the terminal though everything that Oedipus did in surplus is put back into balance by Oedipuss place being taken from him and him being banished. Subsequently he was awarded and it was said that whatever land Oedipus was to be buried in would be big and blessed. The people of Thebes asked him to return but he refused.
possibly non believing himself worthy.
