Tragedy of Oedipus Rex
Tragedy of Oedipus RexBrooks and Heilman wrote Understanding Drama in 1948. Their combined experience and efforts in research of the play, Oedipus Rex, give them the opportunity to become co-authors of their essay. Cederic Whitman, in 1951, also wrote an essay about Oedipus Rex entitled Sophocles: A Study of Heroic Humanism. Being published at Cambridge shows his knowledge and experience. The essays together explain their beliefs of Oedipus as a tragic hero. However, Cecil Bowra, author of Sophoclean Tragedy, published at Oxford in 1945, believes that the role of the gods effects the outcome of Oedipus Rex. Brooks and Heilman plus Whitman combined successfully refute Bowra’s belief in the role of the gods.
Brooks and Heilman believe that Oedipus is a true tragic hero. They begin to say that Sophocles chose to portray Oedipus as a true tragic hero and an object of fate. Oedipus refused to accept the accusations Teiresias had told him. Oedipus needed proof. Going against the will of the gods, he sought to find the truth. Finding the truth, he can no longer stand himself and gouged out his eyes and asked to be banished. Since he did attempt to fight his fate, instead of running from the accusations, he is a hero for standing tall in his quest for the truth.
Cederic Whitman also believed that Oedipus was a tragic hero. He believed also that Oedipus was not an object of fate, and that standing up for himself made Oedipus a hero. Whitman realized that Oedipus cannot be guilty of...
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