Brendan Schwaab

Oedipus Character Report

At the beginning of the book, Oedipus is thought of as the wise, rash ruler. He is

leading the people because he solved the relatively simple riddle from the sphinx.

Because of this question, he became a powerful. It seems as if he rose as fast as he fell.

At the beginning of the play, he had everything: a powerful job, a beautiful wife, and

healthy children. At the end of the play he was exiled from his kingdom, his wife/mother

is dead, and his two daughters are polluted. Oedipus in this play is the tragic hero that

goes from his highest point to his lowest point. “It is necessary to call no man blessed as

we await the final day, until he has reached the limit of life and suffered nothing

grievous.” (line 1557-1559)

The first scene of the play shows Oedipus addressing the people in the dying city

of Thebes. Oedipus asks his people what ails them, although he already knows. This

allows him to appear to his subjects to be more on their level. He comes off as a kind and

just ruler that is supported and loved by the people. This is Oedipus’ highest point. The

glory from killing the sphinx is his legacy and reputation. He has a beautiful wife and two

healthy daughters. Everything seems to be going his way. “I…who am called Oedipus

and known to all.” (Line 8) Oedipus has a very large ego in this point of the play. But

little does he know of his impending doom. Oedipus changes by having his ego deflated

and by losing all things that are dear to him.

In the middle of the play, Oedipus is starting to assemble the pieces of the puzzle.

He is beginning to feel overwhelmed by the events that are taking place and starts coming
to terms with the face that he is the pollution. “Alas, alas! It seems that I have just cast

myself unknowing under terrible curses.” Oedipus realizes that he inflicted this pain onto

himself. By killing King Laius, he both secured his downfall and gave himself the

opportunity to rule Thebes. If King Laius had not been killed, it would not have been

possible for Oedipus to rule Thebes in the first place. This is related to the theme of highs

and lows of the Greek hero. At the low point of killing the travelers, Oedipus secured the

high point of ruling Thebes, and therefore set himself up to fall disgracefully from being

the ruler of Thebes. The irony of the situation is apparent throughout the entire play.

By the end of the play, Oedipus feels as if all is lost and that he has nothing to live

for other than receiving cruel punishments from the gods that he feels he deserves. He is

reduced from everything to absolutely nothing. His kingship destroyed, his wife is dead,

he found his long lost mother but that reunion was ruined by Oedipus marrying her and

her killing herself, and his daughters are polluted and cannot ever marry of attend any

religious ceremonies. His two daughters are some of the many people that the prophecy

inflicted pain onto. “…[You] come as the best of men to me, the worst.” (Line 1455)

Oedipus now fully realizes the bleakness of his situation and asks Creon to banish him

from his former kingdom. It is ironic that Oedipus calls Creon the best of men, because

just a short time before, he accused him of being the pollution and threatened to cast him

from the land. Now their roles are completely reversed. The web of people that the

prophecy affects is very large and mysterious. Because Oedipus if exiled, Creon will

most likely assume leadership of Thebes, which would have been the result of the
conspiracy Oedipus accused him of earlier. This entire play is like a cruel joke that the

gods played on Oedipus.

We can learn from Oedipus Rex that we are all human and that even the most

highly regarded of men can fall from glory. In Greek mythology it is nearly impossible to

escape fate. Maybe there is such a thing as fate in our present society. If one event takes

place, it can set up an entire set of events. In Oedipus Rex if the prophecy had never been

spoken it never would have occurred. King Laius would never have attempted top kill his

son because of the prophecy and Oedipus would have known his true parents. We can

theorize that if the prophecy were never predicted, it never would have happened. We

learn from this play that everyone is human and can make mistakes. We can also learn

from Oedipus to not make rash decisions. This is a very inspiring play that deeply

affected the way I view tragedies.