Tiresias Flaws

On the surface level, one could assume that when a person makes a mistake, they have failed. Most would come to the conclusion that if one does not do something correctly then they will have failed at what they were trying to do, and this shows that the first part of this quote is, essentially, accurate. However, when paired with the second part of the quote, the first part becomes clearer. A person that makes a mistake is not necessarily a failure unless they learned nothing from the mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, but that does not make everyone a failure. Being a failure constitutes so much more than making simple mistakes. Unless someone repeatedly makes the same error and does nothing to improve, they should not be considered a failure. This can be exemplified by a rather simple comparison: if one forgets to turn in one assignment for a class, they will not necessarily fail, however, if they constantly do not turn in their assignments, they will most likely end up failing the class. Repetitious errors demonstrate a lack of ability to improve one’s self which probably shows a lack of caring. This would constitute a failure because the person is doing the same thing over and over again without trying anything new that would warrant a different result. Unless a person does not attempt to correct their mistake in any manner, they should not be considered a failure, but if they have gained nothing from the experience, then they are a failure because the opportunity to learn something new was presented to them and they did nothing with it. One mistake does not define a person, but rather the ability to learn or not to learn from mistakes is what defines a

Humans are the most perfect beings – we are civilized, organized, intelligent, and decisive. Until we aren’t. Every one of us, as humans, is susceptible to flaws, mistakes, and sins – no matter how much we try to deny it. As a result, in order for literary works to accurately represent human characters, the story must depict them with flaws. A read through one of these such literary works, for example, the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, reveals to us much about our flaws as human beings.

When a child is young, the parents always try to get their children to understand the importance of learning from your mistakes as well as valuing other's opinions. However, it is not always easy to admit you are in the wrong. When finally solving an insanely hard calculus problem, but to be told by the teacher your answer is incorrect is never a good feeling. In an excerpt from Antigone, a playwright by Sophocles, the main character, Teiresais states, "all men make mistakes, But a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong... The only crime is pride". By stating this, Sophocles points out that while some understand where they are wrong, those who do not and are too prideful to do so only hurt themselves and society. Today, pride being

I agree with you, Erin. The fundamental aspect of man that makes him marvelous, according to Pico, is that he is essentially free to choose his own destiny. I loved the question Pico posed: “Why, I asked, should we not admire the angels themselves and the beatific choirs more” (28)? After all, what makes man more marvelous than the angels they themselves praise? Following this, Pico made an important distinction between mankind and both the creatures that dwell in Heaven and on Earth: “The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted within laws which We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may, by your own free will, to whose custody We have assigned you, trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature” (29). Here, we see that through personal thought, decisions and actions, man can, as Erin has quoted, descend to a lower form of life or ascend to a divine life (29). According to Pico, not even the highly-regarded angels posses this free-will. Therefore, now we begin to understand that it is not a matter of hierarchical rank that makes man marvelous, yet the unique ability humans have has to shape their life. This is why there is nothing more marvelous than man.

“All men make mistakes- that’s not uncommon. But when they do, they’re no longer foolish or subject to bad luck if they try to fix the evil into which they’ve fallen, once they give up their intransigence.” (lines 1139-1143) says Teiresias to Creon. Teiresias comes to warn Creon of what he has in store for himself if he does not undo his wrongdoings. Teiresias helps to develop Creon into a tragic hero, helps advance the plot of the play by creating tension, and helps to develop the theme of the laws of God versus the laws of man. Their interaction with each other brings out Creon’s unreasonableness, anger, and disrespect in his character.

Teiresias is trying to steer clear of telling Oedipus the truth. Oedipus is angered when Teiresias refuses to tell Oedipus the truth of what happened. Oedipus pushes Teiresias to the point where Teiresias tells him that he is the murder of his father. Teiresias’ actions cause Oedipus to engage in irrational actions. Oedipus speaks out to Teiresias and says, “It has, but not for you; it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes.”

Throughout Socrates’ defense speech in Plato’s Apology of Socrates, he argues that any man of worth thinks of the justice of his actions. Justice, or the lack of it, plays a role both in Apology of Socrates and in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. In both texts, justice and power do not go together all the time, with instances of the men in power not considering the justice of their actions. In the Apology of Socrates, Socrates stands trial for crimes of corrupting the youth and not believing in the gods of the city.

There is no doubt that in times of our life we can live very careless. Whether that is through the decisions we make, the things we say, or the people we hang out with. While having that carelessness isn’t always the absolute worst thing, there are times in which it can come to harm us. Throughout the Apology, Socrates compares himself to a gadfly in which he stings the lazy thoroughbred that is Athens. He is there to help awaken them from their falsehood of the insight they think they know.

In the beginning, Oedipus is told by Teiresias that he lives in shame. Of course, Oedipus feels that Teiresias is blind of not only sight, but knowledge:

The Apology by Plato delves deep into the concept of wisdom and self-examination. Socrates declares that “the unexamined life is not worth living”. Putting this phrase into context, Socrates has been falsely accused by Meletus of corrupting the youth of Athens and believing in artificial gods that were not the same as the gods of Athens. Meletus represents the hypocrisy of the world, he, who is not guiltless in the face of accusation, has falsely accused Socrates of social wrongdoing. These accusations stem from Meletus’ steadfast insecurity of himself. Socrates exposes Meletus’ insecurity that he may be morally corrupt himself. These accusations fulfill that insecurity, that in falsely accusing Socrates of moral corruption, he is proving

Guilt and shame is one of the themes discussed in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus travels on a journey of discovering the guilty party, the killer of the old Theban king Laius who is actually Oedipus himself. Unware of his guilt at first, Oedipus gradually realizes that he is the criminal and attempts to wash his guilt away. However, his attempt fails, and he eventually blinds himself since he cannot face his guilt. Utilizing symbolism and irony, Sophocles exhibits shifts in Oedipus’ attitude toward his guilt to emphasize the theme that no one can permanently escape from one’s guilt.

The speech of Oedipus (“Tell me not……. can under bear”-48-50) in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles depicts guilt and shame and action versus reaction when he realizes his own misdeeds. Although Oedipus committed the sin of murdering and incest unknowingly, he could not forgive himself for violating two basic rules of human civilized world-taboo against murder and incest of own parents. Oedipus promised to bring justice by punishing the killer of King Laius and save Thebes from plague. The helplessness of Oedipus for the unbearable shame is vivid when he says, “I know not how with seeing eyes I could have looked upon my father-coming to the underworld, or my mother, when against them both I have sinned sins, worse than a halter’s meed” (48). The agony

However, pride is not the only characteristic, which contributes to their tragic end.  For Oedipus, there exists his temper, his unrelenting pursuit of the truth and his suspicion.  His temper is exhibited in the argument between Teiresias and himself, where Teiresias states the truth and Oedipus replies, "Do you think you can say such things with impunity?"(p.36) and later calls Teiresias a, "Shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot!"(p.36).  His suspicion was also shown in this exchange where he says, "Creon! Was this trick his, then, if not yours?"(p.36).  Lastly his unrelenting pursuit of the truth is demonstrated when he believes he is the murderer and that Polybus was not his

       A different man might well stop at this point, calm down, and ask Teiresias what he meant. That is to say, a different man might have stopped hanging onto his own certainties; confident that they were the truth, and have listened carefully to what someone else had to say but Oedipus is not that sort of person.  In fact, rather than listen to Teiresias, Oedipus reminds everyone of his previous triumph over the Sphinx, stressing that Teiresias failed to help Thebes then.

"One 's only rival is one 's own potentialities. One 's only failure is failing to live up to one 's own possibilities. In this sense every man can be a king and must therefore be treated like a king".4