Oedipus Notes

Maheen Khan
ENG2D7-04
Ms. Wittlin
Friday, April-02-10
Oedipus Journal Notes
Oedipus Character Study
  Oedipus is a great ruler
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      Oedipus is the master of riddles which ironically is “my greatness   [Oedipus]? Your [Oedipus] great misfortune and ruin.” (38)
      Irrational behaviour
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      Because he is worshiped (equal to God) he is punsihed
    Secondary Characters
Creon
  Foil to Oedipus (See Seminar topic Foils to Oedipus)
      Creon has the most screen time.
      Ironically in the beginning Creon has no desire for kingship.   Yet, when he overly excited when he is made King.
      We learn in Oedipus at Colonus that he is willing to fight   with his nephews for this power, and in Antigone Creon rules   Thebes with a stubborn blindness that is similar to Oedipus’s   rule. This is ironic because Creon has seen Oedipus’ down fall,   and is aware of the cause.
      He is bossy and bureaucratic, intent on asserting his own authority   therefore no sympathy
    Tiresias
  a blind soothsayer of Thebes, in King Oedipus and Antigone.
      In King Oedipus, Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the murderer   he hunts.
      In Antigone, Tiresias tells Creon that he is bringing disaster   upon Thebes, and again the King in power doesn’t believe him.
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      The literal blindness of the prophet points to the metaphorical   blindness of those who refuse to believe the truth about themselves   when they hear it spoken
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    Jocasta
  Is Oedipus’s wife and mother, and Creon’s sister.
      Jocasta is in the ending of King Oedipus.
      She tries to create peace between Oedipus and Creon
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      She is comforts Oedipus
      As Jocasta solves the riddle of Oedipus’s identity before   Oedipus does shows she is wiser than Oedipus
      She...