Is Oedipus Selfish

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The play "Oedipus the king" is based on a young child with a tragic prophecy that states that he is meant to grow up to kill his own father and marry his own mother. When the city of Athens was under the curse of the sphinx, Oedipus decided to be the one confronting the mystical creature and solving the riddle which was “what has four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night". After his heroic and unplanned action, Oedipus became the king of Athens where he unknowingly married his biological mother and where he believed was a city that needed him in order to stay in place. Oedipus fits the characteristics of a tragic hero due to his selfish and hubris imperfections, impulsive actions that led him to find the truth and due to the personal ideologies and values he poses.

Oedipus has many imperfections, one of them, is selfishness and also his lack of self-knowledge. When Creon tells him the story of how the king, Laius, was violently killed by villains, Oedipus wants to investigate the murder and find the person responsible for it. His excessive pride does not allow him to consider the idea that he could be the murder he is looking for, even though he …show more content…
Be dark forever now….” This means that even though he was the king of Athens, he decided to assume the consequences that needed to be made. Although, Oedipus has an awful temper and excessive pride, he is still capable of determined whether or not his choices are good for the city and the people of Athens. For this reason, Oedipus, begged to be exile from Thebes and taken to a place where nobody could ever see him again. In that moment, it is determined the heroic action that Oedipus is whiling to take in order to protect and teach the people of Athens a very important lesson. He allows people to see him and learn from his hubris

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Oedipus is genuinely caring and cherished the people of Thebes. “And yet, though you are sick, there is not one of you so sick as I. For your afflictions com comes to each alone, for him and for no one else, but my soul mourns for me and for you, too, and for the city. You do not waken me as from a sleep, for I have wept, bitterly and long, tried many paths in the wanderings of thought.” Oedipus goes on to say that he kept on crying for his people, his city, and himself. Even more, as a ruler, Oedipus…

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