Oedipus The King Research Paper

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Ancient Greek has contributed too many parts of today’s society. Their teaching and doings have remained important lessons that many civilization still base their own laws and ethics. Among those lessons are the Greek values. These values are practiced by the ancient Greeks and our generation today. In this paper we will look closely how the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, reflects some of the values discussed in class. Among these values are the following: Arête (translated as “virtue” or “being the best you can be”), Hamartia (people refer to as the “tragic flaw” of the hero), Kalokagathia (a belief that man should live on the point of balance between pairs of dialectics present in the universe), Sophrosyne (the Greek value that practice moderation, restraint, and self-control), and Hubris (meaning…show more content…
The evolution and role in the downfall of men by this overly zealous pride can be traced throughout Oedipus the king. Its presence dictates the course of the story and evolving as its tragic hero works through his fated anguish. In the first opening scene, Sophocles depicts Oedipus as a man of stature, ruling his land justly and exhibits intelligence, love, and concern for his people. However, his wisdom is tainted by self-righteous, his arrogance becoming very clear on the eight line of his opening monologue, “Here I am – myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus.” (159). The Greeks believe that arrogance should not be practice because it offends the Gods and it usually punished. As the story develops, the role of hubris dictates the path which the story follows as the tragic hero tries to manipulate his own fate through his arrogance which led to his own downfall - in this case, Oedipus was “punished by the Gods.” The role of hubris, or Oedipus’ personal exaggerated pride, carved his own path to

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