FREE ESSAY ON OEDIPUS VS PENTHEUS

OEDIPUS VS PENTHEUS

Oedipus and Pentheus are both tragic Greek characters who help create their own endings.
Through their character's flaws and blindness to what is going on around each of them,
the story develops. The only consistent character in both plays who is able to understand
past and present dangers is Teiresias, the blind prophet. 
Oedipus thinks his human powers can match anything put in front of him. He forces other
characters to tell him things, which again creates his tragic ending. (O790) Oedipus by
not knowing his identity seems to create his own tragedy. Throughout the entire play, he
is blind to everything people are telling him. (O320) He continues to badger Teiresias to
answer things that Oedipus does not believe is true. If he only stopped, asking questions
his fate might have been different. (O385) Because of these answers, he begins to suspect
that people are plotting against him. He feels that he is above such lowly deeds. His own
conceit and blind confidence in himself helps him continue towards a tragic ending.
(O452-460) While Teiresias was predicting the future of Oedipus, he should have been
smart enough to listen. He should have started to change his ways before he ended up
destroying himself. Oedipus' guilt was beginning to play tricks on his mind. At the
beginning of the play, Oedipus was on the top of the mortal world. Now he is finding out
the truth about his past and his world starts to crumble around him. 
(O805-830) When Oedipus comes upon a carriage with a man and his servants he lets his own
ego get in his way. When either refuse to allow them to pass first, Oedipus kills all of
them. His own stubbornness and pride again kept him from changing his future. Since this
was his father he murdered, the myth continues. If he had just let them pass and gone his
way, his future may have been altered. 
Pentheus like Oedipus was taken with his own powers. He could not believe anything could
harm him. (B270) Pentheus in his own conceit thinks he can do anything. He feels he is so
powerful that no man is above him. (B476) He is not able to see that Dionysus is a god
because he is in human form. Pentheus needs to see everything before he can accept it.
(B255) By Pentheus agreeing to dress up like a woman, he is asking for a tragic ending.
He now begins to listen to Dionysus who he had bound with chains before. He shows how
gullible he is, to think Dionysus will now help him. He cannot see himself being set up
to take a large fall. (B310) When Teiresias tells Pentheus "Do not be so certain that
power is what matters in life," Pentheus still feels confident. Pentheus was doomed
because he did not believe other peoples word about the power of Dionysus. 
Teiresias was the only character to be able to see things as they were. Even though
physically weak, old, and blind he seemed to be mentally strong. (B190) This passage
shows that being blind and feeble does not mean that one can not enjoy life. He was able
to talk about the future as easily as the past. (B360) Teiresias is able to feel that the
gods are more powerful and we as mortals must obey their pleasures. In our experiences,
we generally think of blindness as a weakness. In both these tragedies, Teiresias'
blindness became his strength.
In Oedipus, while he continues to ask questions the blind prophet was the only one trying
to stop him. (O413-420) Teiresias says that Oedipus is blind for not knowing who his
parents are. It should be most important for mortals to know who we are and where we come
from. (330-345) This is the first time we see Oedipus loosing his temper. This is a new
character trait that develops. Teiresias tells Oedipus "it is not fate that I should be
your ruin/Apollo is enough." Oedipus' pride is hurt during this conversation and he is at
the end of his patience. Oedipus is not so much challenging fate as oblivious to it. He
feels his well being is not as important as the safety of Thebes. He again show anger
when provoked.
In Greek tragedies, you can find a common bond between characters. These characters are
responsible for their own fates. In these two plays, both Sophocles and Euripides created
a story based on this. I have tried to show that Pentheus and Oedipus could have changed
their fate by reacting different at different points during their lives. Each chose the
path, which became the tragic ending. "Both characters attempt to engage fate in a fight
for truth, to win the battle only to loose the war."