Source, not the Surface

The experience of the unchangeable fate of misery is the most painful in the life of humans. When we have problems, we look for solutions, but when there are no solutions, we have only problems. A man named Richard Algear once said, "After every storm

the sun will smile; for every problem there is a solution, and the soul's indefeasible duty is to be of good cheer". Which is true until the day we die. However, in Oedipus's condition, he is sentenced to live his life full of misery because of the things he did unknowingly, that caused the death of his parents, and the sickness in the air of Thebes. If Oedipus would have known who his true father was, he wouldn't have killed him, and likewise with his mother. It seems that whenever the truth isn't told, much more damage is done compared to the intended solutions behind which the truth was hidden in the first place. This idea can be visualized through the common problems we encounter everyday. Two months ago, the pipes under our sink in the kitchen were leaking, so we covered up the leaking points with duct tape, which worked well for a week, then it wore down and water leaked out even more. The holes where the water leaked got even bigger due to erosion. In the end, it got so bad that we had to buy a new pipes. We could have fixed the leaks initially by filling the holes with caulk or some other substance, but we were lazy and decided duct tape would be the easiest solution. We should have dealt with the situation with greater effort, and not relied on the easy solution of duct tape. We should have filled the holes and solved the situation completely. As we covered the holes with duct tape, they got bigger and more leakage came out. This same concept applies to lies. We use lies as an easy way to solve a situation, when really, the negative effects of the situation build up inside the lies until one day, everything comes out in mass quantities. This applies to Oedipus in that if he had been informed of the identities of his true parents, and his parents knew he was still alive, it is theorized that his life would have gone better. Oedipus was ordered to be killed when he was young due to his prophecy that stated he was going to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus was given false identities of his parents, which built up conflict and ended horribly. The truth of Oedipus's life was belied with "duct tape" which covered the truth, but at the same time built up the negative truth, until one day it all hit hit him, and he blinded himself. In society one can hear a lot about people covering up their problems with "duct tape", such as people who drink alcohol to relieve their troubles, or people who pig out on pie and whipped cream after they are dumped. They are just using temporary solutions to solve problems that need to be tackled at the source, not the surface.

Andre Agassi

Andre Agassi was a world class tennis player during the 90's and the early 00's. He admitted in his book Open that he used crystal meth during the 1997 season. This was obviously a poor decision and one that led him to wasting the 1997 tennis season. He says in the book that he "tanked" the semi-final match of the Australian Open in January of 1997 against Michael Chang just because he didn't want to play Boris Becker in the final. Andre made a very poor decision by using meth and this decision could have cost him his career. His decisions in 1997 led to his downfall in the rankings and his loss of integrity amongst the fellow competitors and friends in the locker room. The story of Oedipus is also like this. Oedipus murders the former king of Thebes and he in the process becomes the king Thebes. He also sleeps with his mother and fulfills the tragic prophecy laid out for him by one of the Greek gods. Oedipus's decisions cost him is crown as king and Andre's decision cost him an entire tennis season. These two men are great examples of how the choices we make in life can either lead to great success or terrible misery like the misery experienced by these two men. Both men made terrible choices in life and choices that shaped their future.

Humans Want to Know Everything

Three people told Oedipus that he really wouldn't want to know the truth,even his wife, and that it was horrible. But of course he got the old man to tell him the truth. This led to disaster. Oedipus made the poor choice of gouging his eyes out which was a decision where "two days later he would regret it"(Willy). He had the right to be insanely mad, most people probably would if they found out they were sleeping with their own mother. I am guessing that most people would want to know who their parents where. Especially if they knew a certain person knew. If you knew someone knew a secret about you, and when you confronted them they told you that it was a secret that was so bad that you wouldn't want to know. You would probably want to know what it was more than before.

Humans always want to know everything, and some things are better left unknown. I think that it is human nature to be curious, and that it is a characteristics about humans that leads to trouble, or great discovery. For example, I heard a story on the Jay Leno show about some guy who had been doing an online dating website, and he had been chatting/dating with a girl for a while and he really wanted to meet her in person. But the girl resisted because she didn't want to date in public and she thought she was unattractive. So the guy kept insisting that it didn't matter what she looked like because he liked her personality and he thought that she was a girl that he could really connect to, and wanted to start dating her in real life. So when they met it turned out that it was really his mom(she was divorced). Which was of course the most awkward thing in the world and they probably will never look at each other the same way again.

This guy was curious about who she really was and wanted to see her. But that led to disaster. Just like Oedipus wanted to know who his parents were, and that lead to disaster. These stories are on a completely different scale, but it shows the point that being curious can be disastrous, or great(if he fell in love with her if it wasn't his mom).

Oedipus' Morality

Would you die in order to save thousands of people? Would you go under a curse that is far from unbearable instead of taking your life? These are questions that Oedipus had to face.

About a month and two weeks ago, we talked about morality. "Moral judgment is pretty consistent from person to person... [but] moral behavior, however, is scattered all over the chart," says Marc Hauser, a professor of psychology at Harvard University. All humans have different opinions and views, which creates different decisions of any question. Oedipus was an extraordinary person who wanted to do whatever he can in order for his kingdom to become better, but still had some bad moral behavior. As he said, he would even die in order for his kingdom to get out of the plague. Of course, most people would say that they would do die for others, but it is harder when it actually occurs to you and you have to make the decision. Even though Oedipus just said it, he goes under even a greater pain than that. Like the chorus said, "Better to die than be alive and blind (242)." Oedipus did not die, but was alive and blind, causing him to be worse of than dead, and Oedipus knows this. Even though all his pain would go away, is moral judgment of death is different than the common person. He is strong enough to go through the pain for he strongly believes in death over dishonor, even with the little honor he has. Although he had good moral for his kingdom, he was did not have good moral behavior when he killed Laius. I believe that he went too far to kill Laius and did not have a sensible reason in order to do so.

So I have a question to you, do you think that Oedipus is morally strong or weak, or even both?

Tragedy

Life often hands you unexpected situations that leave you in shock. Sometime the situation is a surprise and it is good but other times it is a tragedy. A couple weekends ago a friend's mom died by falling down the stairs. She was fine till she went to the hospital the next morning and died. Tragedy had struck. Their whole lives and family dynamic would change in a flash. They have to come to a realization that things have just changed drastically and they have to figure out a plan to carry on. It helps to stick together and everyone has to do there part to stay strong. It is a very hard situation to handle but life shocks you in what it throws at you. Oedipus's life turns when he realizes he has killed his father and slept with his mother. He has committed murder and incest. He has had children with his mother. His city is dying of the plague he has caused and his mother has killed herself because of all these occurrences. Oedipus is dealing with it in a harsh manner by gouging his eyes out with a pin, therefore becoming blind. He has support from Creon but does what is best for his city by exiling himself in Thebes. Tough times call for people to come together and try their hardest to comfort all who is hurt. Tragedies bring horrible times but they also lead to strength. After you get a grip on the tragedy, become strong and carry on. Oedipus and all others experiencing tragedy do their best to stay strong and do what is right in their situation. Tragedy is a horrible downfall in someones life but they have to carry on.

Selfishness

In sports you are always told to be unselfish always trying to make get a better shot at the hoop by making that extra pass, or diving for ball even though it hurts. When i got to thinking most sports players reach their downfalls because they are too selfish and can only think of themselves. For example, the much hated former Cowboy, Terell Owens, is said to have ruined the Cowboys locker room turning players against players, and ruining the chemistry. This got me thinking of Oedipus because even though Oedipus is probably the least selfish person both Oedipus and Terell have tragic falls that lead to their downfalls. For Oedipus' tragic flaw is impatience for Terell, well Terell has a few you could start out with selfishness which in turn could lead to impatience, and worst of all he is very cocky. Like we have been discussing in class poetic tragedies lead to the downfalls of the characters and for Terell he was cut from the three previous teams for pouting, and blaming his poor performances on other teamates. In San Fransico Terell called Jeff Garcia, Jeff Garthia making an inuendo that Garcia was a homosexual. Personally i think this is ridiculous why even bother saying something like that because first of all Jeff Garcia is married to a model and it just ruins the team, like in Dallas when he turned players against players. It is very interesting how Terell can never be at fault it was always the quarterbacks faults Garcia, McNabb, Romo, and who knows maybe his new quarterback Trent Edwards. As it has played out in previous situations for Terell he has been eventually cut he becomes the enemy of his teamates. It is only a matter of time before he starts up his shanigans because his performances over the current season would are very horrible for as much money as he is getting paid. The downfalls of men can be prevented, but like in Oedipus the tragic flaw the character contains is inevitable leading to their downfall.

Jumping to conclusions

When Oedipus first found out that someone in the town had murdered the king before him, he started to find anyone to blame. H first started to blame the old man. oedipus had no right to blame this man, especially because he was blind. There would physically be no way for the old man to do it. Then he jumps to conclusions that Creon, his brother in law, did it. From what we know about Creon, he had much of the same amount of power as Oedipus did, except he didn't make the calls, Oedipus did. Oedipus had no idea who killed Laius, he just wanted to blame whoever he could, so that the burden wasn't on him. My sister and I, get in little arguments frequently. Most of these fights have to do with stupid things and they never make sense. One day, my sister lost her phone somewhere in the house. Without even looking for her phone, she blames me. She asks me what i did with her phone and where it is. She had no right to blame anything on me. The least thing she could have done was to ask me for help to look for it. Before we start jumping to conclusions, we need to figure out what is really going on, and take time to think, before judging people.

Michael Vick

This weekend I was watching some old footage of Michael Vick. These videos were of him back when he was with the Atlanta Falcons. As I was watching, I realized how good of a player he realy was. I also realized that he, just like Oedipus, cause his own down fall. In Oedipus' case, he was on his way to Thebes and along the way he ran into the king of Thebes and his caravan. The leaders of the caravan pushed Oedipus off of the road. This made Oedipus very angry revealing his tragic flaw. He proceded to kill all but one in the party in cluding the king. Although Vick did not kill anyone, he did support a dog fighting business that was housed in a house that he paid for. He was sent to about two years in prison and was not allowed to play in the NFL until this year. While in prison, Vick lost just about all of the speed and agility that he sepnjt so much time working on to be one of the most dominant players in the NFL. He now is a backup quarterback and does not pose the same threat that he once did.

"The one with all the Rugby"

Over the last couple of weeks in class we have been discussing the elements of a tragedy, its origin, and what makes a tragedy more effective. We also discussed about Tragic Flaws.

We have discussed that Tragedy has its roots in religious rituals and comes from Tragoidia which is greek for "Goat Song." Tragedy began as a form of religious poetry that was spoken or sung by verse by a chorus. We also discussed poetic terms and how they relate to a tragedy. I think one term in particular relates to the main focus of Oedipus and life in general. Anagnorisis means recognition or identification. This is the point in a play when the protagonist understands the real situation and the circumstances of his life and is no longer ignorant. Unfortunately Oedipus the stubborn king of Thebes fights for the truth even though the people who know it are fully aware what the consequences are if they say it. When Oedipus finally hears the horrific truth that he has killed Lauis his father and the ex-king of thebes, a messenger gives Oedipus the worst possible news of all. His mother had killed herself because she knew the truth that the prophecies that were told long ago were real and that she had been sleeping with her own son for years. They also had two children together. When Oedipus saw his mother hanging in his private quarters he lost his mind. He takes two pins and blinds himself permanently. Then he calls for help to guide him outside so that his people who have stuck by his side even when the evidence was against him, the people who were stricken with a deadly plague that swept throughout the city of Thebes, these people, the only ones that still felt sorry for Oedipus and still respected him. Now they gazed upon their king the murderer that caused them so much pain. The Anagnorisis occurs when Oedipus relizes the horrifying truth that he is the king killer.

What would you do if you realized you had been sleeping with your own mother, and conceived two children? How would you react?

In my opinion I think Oedipus had every right to over react the way he did. I disagree with his pin blinding method, that was a little over the top, but he had just found out that he was the killer of his own father and the father to his mother's sons. The Peripeteia (a reversal of circumstances, a turning point, things turn from good to bad) of Oedipus's character was tragic and saddening.

Examples of tragic flaws can be seen in other ways such as on TV, in Movies, Books, Newspapers, and plays etc... In an episode of FRIENDS, (the one with all the rugby) Ross, Phoebe, and Joey are at the park awaiting Ross's decision to play a pick up game of rugby. Before going to the park they all watched some rugby games on ESPN. Although the footage of the games was quite frightening, Ross decided to go in and play. Right before he went in he told both of them that he needed to be "red Ross." Confused, Joey and Phoebe tell him they have no idea what "red ross" meant. After a few minutes of playing Ross came off the field in pain. He told the group, "I'm Red Ross!" Joey quickly responds, "dude if you back out there you are going to be dead Ross!"

Joey's comment foreshadowed Ross's downfall. At the end of the match Ross was in a lot of pain

and could barely move. Ross played to impress his british girlfriend. It was his own quick judgment

that led to his downfall. Oedipus to has this tragic flaw.

This is a Tragic play because our protagonist, Oedipus, goes from being a great king who saved his people from the riddler sphinx, to an exiled king killer.

Was banishing the ex-King of Thebes necessary? Would you have made the same decision?

Have you ever learned the truth about something that caused you to overreact and go nuts? Does this play relate to your own life? How?

Our Destiny

Oedipus' destiny is discussed many times in the play Oedipus by Sophocles. This destiny is to kill his own father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus does all he can to try and avoid fulfilling this destiny but the fact is that the gods already have his life planned out and there is nothing he can do to prevent this from happening. When reading Oedipus I realized that this idea of destiny is a lot like what I believe as a Christian. I believe that God has a plan for me and already has my life planned out. When I feel scared or like my life is going no where its nice to know that God already planned out how my life will be and it is something good. At times I try to change things that are not going my way, just like Oedipus' does, but there is nothing I can do about it and I just have to remember that. I know that Oedipus' destiny was harsh and unfair, I also know that maybe Oedipus' gods would do that, but i know my God would never give that destiny to anyone even if he felt they deserved it. Recently i have been hearing a lot about how the world is supposed to end in 2012 and although this scares me a lot, my mom is always there to remind me that God has a plan for me. The government may try to change the fact of the world ending, but the fact is if its in God's plan I believe it is going to happen, even if that means I only get to live until i'm 18. For Oedipus' the gods have a plan just like for me God has a plan.

Blind Madness

Our surroundings, feelings, emotions and people affect our everyday life. We all have our good days and our bad days. When things do not go our way or according to plan, it sets off the balance of our normal sentiments. Jose, my older cousin, is fun to be with. He is usually in a good mood and has an awesome humor! Nothing really irritates or bothers Jose. If so, he usually shakes it off and goes back to being his crazy self. But one time Jose lost it! Jose had a bad day at school and at home. His partner in a project was a slacker and Jose had to do all the work. He left his term paper on top of his bed and it was due that day. He stayed up late the night before to write an essay he forgot to do. He was late for school and he forgot his gym clothes. Jose was just having a bad day. When I went to visit later in the afternoon, he was quiet and grumpy. I tried to talk to him, but he would only ignore me or answer rudely. I did not know what was going on but I knew something was up. I tried to joke around with him and messed with just we always do, but this time I hit a nerve and he exploded!!! Jose began to shout and turned red. Boy, was I suprised and even a bit shaken. He started telling me why the heck did I want and why was I there. His response stung me a bit. I told him I wanted to visit him and just hang out. He told me to leave that he had alot of work to do and that I was bothering him. I retorted telling him that he didn't have to be a jerk about it. We got in an arguement, we were going back and forth, and some mean things were said. I said goodbye to my aunt and stormed off. The next two days, Jose came to my house. He apologized for his attitude and the things he said, which he did not meant. I apologized too and then I asked him what was going on. He finally told me of the bad luck he was having that day and that he just cracked under stress. Jose said he was sorry and he did not mean to take it out on me. We forgave eachother and then we went with my other cousins and all of us went to the movies to go watch Paranormal Activity. After his release of stress, frustration and anger, Jose returned to his fun loving self. It seemed like frustation and desperation transformed Jose into a different person. I am glad that the old Jose is back, and I hope to never see the frustrated person take over Jose ever again!
Jose's outburst reminded me of Oedipus' loss of control when he is under pressure and desperation too. Like Oedipus, Jose said pretty mean things and lost his rational thinking. In his moment of anger and desperation for an answer, Oedipus takes out his desperation on Tiresisa and begins to insult him. Oedipus also falsely accuses Creon of conspiracy without any definite evidence to support his accusations. Oedipus loses himself in the confusion of rage and desperation and becomes into a whole different person. Our emotions tend to change our response to things or how we deal with dilemmas. When we are angry or lose focus of our rational thinking, we lose ourselves into the blindness of madness.

They Aren't All Bad

About two weeks ago, a terrible tragedy occurred. Malik Nadal Hasan, a military doctor at Fort Hood, went into a shooting rampage, shooting anyone or anything that stood in his way. Just recently, on November 15, 2009. A military doctor from Phoenix, named Dr. Zuhdi Jasser was interviewed by the "Dallas Morning News," about his views and opinions on the Fort Hood massacre.

Dr. Jasser told "Dallas Morning News," that he was stunned when he heard about the tragedy. He explained how him and Hasan were basically in the same situation. Both military doctors, but Hasan explained further why he did not end up like Hasan and experience the same downfall Hasan went through. Jasser says, that the difference between him and Hasan, was that Jasser was blessed with parents who taught him that he was an American who happened to be Muslim. Jasser's family came from Syria, and Jasser explains how never in his home, did he or his family refer to Syria as home, or say that their government was inferior to Sharia law or the Islamic State. Jasser later explains that the reason he joined the army, was because he felt a "deep-seated" obligation to give back to the country that gave him freedom, that no other country could give. Jasser was taught to value and love liberty.

Jasser believes that Dr. Hasan was brainwashed by a local Mosque he attended. Interestingly, over the years politics has been blended into Islam. Jasser explained that back in the Middle East, the safest place to discuss politics was in the Mosque. This is because in the Mosque, the government could not get a hold of anyone; and because of this, politics became a part of Islam. For example, Jasser remembered when he was at the University in Phoenix. He was at the Mosque he usually attended regularly. The Imam had a picture of an Iraqi lade holding a sign next to an American soldier saying, "I was knocked up by this soldier." Jasser was very offended by this and told the Imam if he had any idea what he had done. He brainwashed these college students to thinking that the U.S. Army was harassing innocent civilians in Iraq. This is what Jasser thinks happened to Hasan.

Jasser is worried that Hasan is not the only American-Muslim who was brainwashed. He feels that many young Muslims are being brainwashed into thinking that America is the enemy and they must attack the one country that gave them shelter from their oppressive dictatorship "homelands." Like Oedipus, Hasan had his own tragic flaw, although Hasan's was much worse than Oedipus'. Interestingly, Jasser compared Hasan to Lee Harvey Oswald. Like Hasan, Oswald was also in the military (Marines) who was becoming a Marxist. Jasser says that no one can deny that it was Oswald's Marxism that played a role in his hatred for America.

I believe that Jasser's points were very true, and I am happy that he thinks that this brainwashing must end. He is proud to be an American, and has risked his life in order to protect it. It is true though that Hasan could have taken a different path. The path that Jasser took, but sadly the anger and violence overpowered his heart and left him mad. "

Truly an Idiot

In 2004 there was a presidential candidate named Howard Dean who possibly brought his downfall upon himself. During an important speech in Iowa he got carried away with his campaign and began to scream and make weird noises. He clearly didn’t realize what was going on because he kept doing it. The people listening and watching on TV were left in awe immediately when they heard it and lost respect for Howard. Several days later, it was reported that he was sorry and embarrassed about this whole situation and apologize. Clearly he didn’t win the presidency or make it very far in the elections, so in other terms he had a downfall that could have been from his speech in Iowa. Howard is exactly like Oedipus in the aspect that he did some that in the end would lead to his downfall, but didn’t realize it when everyone else around him did. When Tiresias was telling Oedipus and Jocasta about the news, Jocasta immediately realizes that she has been making love to her son and freaks out and ends up killing herself. Oedipus on the other hand looks like an idiot when he can’t figure it out. He soon realizes it right before he learns that his mom has killed herself. He is left looking like an idiot and is banned from the city. In conclusion, Howard and Oedipus could have this attitude and ignorance due to ego and their overwhelming arrogance.