Both Achilles and Oedipus are brave leaders who suffer from the tragic flaw of pride. In both cases, this flaw endangers their country.
Achilles, a great warrior, gets angry and refuses to fight any longer in the Trojan war because Agamemnon has claimed the maid Briseis as his own, who Achilles thought should have gone to him as a spoil of war. He feels Agamemnon has disrespected him. Likewise, Oedipus feels disrespected when he meets a group of people in the road who won't give right of way to him. He therefore angrily kills his father for not stepping aside. Of course, Oedipus doesn't know that the man he has killed is his father, but essentially, it is hotheaded and proud to kill somebody over something so petty.
Because he won't fight, Achilles could bring ruin on Greece. Likewise, because, later on, once he is king of Thebes, Oedipus has...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
too much pride to conceive that he could be the cause of the plague, he threatens his kingdom with ruin.
Both men are subject to prophecy. Oedipus is told he is fated to kill his father and marry his mother and, despite his best efforts, that is what he does. Likewise, Achilles is told he can have a short life with glory or a long life without glory. He picks glory, and he does die young. Both men's stories illustrate that you can't escape your fate.
Both men show they abide by a universal moral code when tragedy strikes. The universality comes in their accepting responsibility for their deeds and acting on that sense of moral right, rather than what they do.
Achilles rises to the occasion and fights after his best friend Patroclus is killed, accepting responsibility for his part in his friend's death by his refusal to fight. Also, although he is unwilling to relinquish his friend's body, when Patroclus comes to him in a dream and asks him to give him a proper funeral so that he enter Hades, Achilles does the right thing and lights the funeral pyre.
Oedipus shows he adheres to a universal moral code when he takes responsibility for the pestilence in Thebes and his own guilt in killing his father and marrying his mother. He pricks out his own eyes in anguish for his crimes.
This is a great question and one that is provocative. Here are a few points that you might want to consider.
First, Achilles and Oedipus are both the main characters of the respective works. They both drive the movement of the literary works. They are both heroes in their own sense and more importantly they are both tragic.
Second, if we focus on the idea of the tragic hero, then we will be able to gain some insights. As with all tragic heroes, both Achilles and Oedipus are extraordinary men. They are leaps and bounds ahead of others. Achilles is the greatest warrior of the Greeks and Oedipus is a very able leader who in the past solved the riddle of the sphinx. The seeking of greatness can be seen as a universal code of morality.
Third, it is their great talents and skills that lead to their downfall. Achilles cannot resist a good fight and the seeking of glory, which ultimately leads to his death and Oedipus must seek to solve all problems, even if he is the cause of it.
How do Achilles in the Iliad and Oedipus in Oedipus Rex follow a moral code?
Both Oedipus and Achilles live by the universal code of human assertiveness and free will, even though each of these characters is foretold of a horrible fate that lies in store for him.
Achilles, for example, is warned that if he goes to fight at Troy, he will lose his life. He will gain the glory he desires, but with glory comes death. Still, he chooses to assert his own will to achieve his desire of respect and honor.
Oedipus is warned of a horrible prophecy, one that involves killing his own father and sleeping with and impregnating his own mother. Rather than hide away and cower from life, Oedipus goes on to assert his greatness by solving the riddle of the Sphinx and saving the city of Thebes. He goes on to become their king and gains the utmost admiration from his role in guiding his people.
In the end, both characters do meet their destined ends, but their courage in the face of such tragic circumstances is something to be admired.
One of the ways to answer this very good question is to look at the Greek concept of hubris. Both characters are some of the proudest characters in all of Greek literature. In a word, they are characterized by hubris.
Achilles shows this by not bending to the command of his king, Agamemnon. Also Achilles is so proud that he will not enter the fight, even though his fellow Greeks are dying at the hands of the Trojans. We can say that his pride and sense of honor is too great.
The same can be said of Oedipus. He is the great ruler of Thebes and he cannot see or even entertain the thought that the plague on his city is due to his crimes. In a sense, he is very blind. His pride blinds him.
In light of these two examples, we can say that both characters show the universal characteristic in man - his pride.