The Effects of Pride and Power

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Sarah Pathammavong

October 9, 2003

World Lit. 1A

Dr. Smith

The Effects of Pride and Power

Power and pride can be seen as a companionship of ideas, such as spaghetti and meatballs. When you have one there is most likely the other there with it. Wherever there is a base of power or source of power, that base or source come with a feeling of pride with the power package. The pride of having that power, the pride of accomplishing things that in return earned that power. Pride in return for power can help gain power or too much pride can lead to the diminishing of power and blindness of power in truth. All of these relationships between power and pride listed before can be seen in the tragic play by Sopohcles, “Oedipus Rex”, through the characters Oedipus and Kreon. Sophocles exemplifies how Oedipus and Kreon both had power and pride that influenced their actions and clarified their values. Also how the power and pride of Oedipus lead him to doom and the power and pride of Kreon led him to more power and pride.

        The title of the play Oedipus Rex, which is originally in Greek means Oedipus the King refers to the fact that Oedipus, the main character of the play, is a king of high stature and much authority. In the beginning of the play Oedipus is seen to have the most power over any other character in the play, he is the King of Thebes and whatever he says or does the people of Thebes must subject to him, “no man questions your power to rule the land” (line 56), says a priest. Oedipus attained this power by his acts in relieving the city of Thebes from a horrible monster, the sphinx, by solving her riddle, and there by saving the city from the hideous monster that was terrorizing them. This power of the throne for Oedipus consisted of “wealth, power, craft of statesmanship! / Kingly position, everywhere admired”(line 367-8), as stated by Oedipus. With this a king also holds many responsibilities of the city and its people.

        One of these responsibilities that Oedipus has, that is shown in this play is, the responsibility of Oedipus to save the people. And he to thought that he had the power to take on anything, since before he saved the people of Thebes from the Sphinx, he now is required to save them from the plague and is obligated to because he is the king, “tell me, and never doubt that I will help you / In every way I can” (13-14). The people also believe that he has the power, almost like a god, to save them from the plague, “you are not one of the immortal gods, we know…surest in mortal ways and wisest in the ways of God”(35-38). And all of this talk about saving the city brought pressure onto Oedipus, the king who was to save them. Pressure from the fact that he had to save the city from this or he would lose face and authority.

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        Pressure form the responsibility of saving the people affected the acts where Oedipus took advantage of his power. The pressure brought on by the society, pressuring him not fail, and the sense in Oedipus that his power was not strong enough to defeat the plague gave him the idea to show in public his authority. And he did this clearly when arguing with Kreon, after the blind soothsayer Teiresias had said his prediction and accused Kreon of treason, Oedipus took advantage of his power and made threats to anyone or thing that was going to interfere with him losing his ...

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