Oedipus the Hero
What exactly is a hero? Is it someone who rushes into a burning house to rescue a child? Or is it a monk who abstains from worldly pleasures and comforts in order to be closer to the Gods? Joseph Cambell, one of the foremost authorities of Greek mythology, defined the literary hero as someone who accomplishes extraordinary feats in at least one of two basic realms: worldly or spiritual. If the aforementioned prospective heroes were the protagonists of a story and were transformed by their deeds and imparted the wisdom they learned on to others, then, according to Cambell, they could be viewed as heroes. Not only has Cambell defined the word hero but he has also outlined a simple cycle that most heroes follow. An annotated version of this ambiguous cycle would begin with a Call to Adventure, then the assistance of a helper, then an irrevocable crossing of the Threshold of Adventure, followed by an undergoing of an ordeal and receiving of a reward, and, finally the return of the hero with the quintessential solution. Although Oedipus clearly follows this cycle, he was an antihero rather than a hero.To better understand this, one must first follow Oedipus's adventure in respect to how it fits into the Hero Cycle. Oedipu
What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? The answer is a man and that is exactly what Oedipus was, a man and nothing more (foreshadowing?). What exactly is a hero? A hero is a protagonist in a story who accomplishes extraordinary feats while going through the process of being transformed into an extraordinary human. Oedipus was visited upon by many trials and tribulations but was not transformed. He was, therefore, an antihero. With these selfish words, Oedipus not only sentences his own sons to death, but also hundreds of innocent men on battle fields, and, incidentally, Antigone who had given up the better part of her life to selflessly take care of Oedipus. At this point, a little diplomacy from a man in the position that Oedipus was in might have gone a long way. He was in a position to mediate but he was not in a position to judge and his feeble proclivity towards the former caused him to forgo the latter. The very petty, vindictive nature of his words casts doubt upon the altruistically noble gouging of his eyes and self-enforced banishment from his home. Did he forget about the consequences of his having anything to do with Thebes? summarily eliminates him is that, in the end, he never transcends these human qualities. Rather, his anger is transformed from fits of rage to vindictive wrath. This can be seen in Scene VI of Oedipus at Colonus when Polyneices
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Approximate Word count = 970
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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