In the modern world, theater serves people as a way to escape everyday life, but it is much more than that. Both today and in ancient Greece, these shows helped teach people lessons and learn about historical events. Although in today's society it does not play as important a role as in ancient Greece, it is an influential art that helps express many issues and problems in society. In Greek life, theater played an important role, and from here arose a form of drama known as tragedy. The tragedy focused on many themes such as love, loss, arrogance, abuse of power, and orchestrated relationships between gods and men. In these tragedies, the protagonist often inadvertently makes a bad decision, and when he learns of the mistake he has made, the world begins to collapse around him. The character of Oedipus, in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, is a great example of Aristotle's "high-minded man", Oedipus may not have the characteristic of remaining calm in petty situations, but he knows how to speak correctly to people of all backgrounds. classes and has a need for truth despite the consequences. In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is not a high-minded man due to his lack of self-control when angry. Aristotle states: “The man of high mind is not ready to run petty dangers.” This means that a high-minded man will not willingly run into danger unless it is for a good reason. He will assess the threat and find out if it is worth taking action before putting himself in a position to fight. Furthermore, a high-minded man should have enough self-control to stop before the situation gets out of hand. In the Oedipus Rex, Tiresias states: "I say that you are the murderer you seek." This was said during a discussion between Tiresias and Oedipus, Tiresias states that he will not reveal the information about Laius' death. Oedipus finally forces him to tell the information, which says no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the modern world, theater serves people as a way to escape everyday life, but it is much more than that. Both today and in ancient Greece, these shows helped teach people lessons and learn about historical events. Although in today's society it does not play as important a role as in ancient Greece, it is an influential art that helps express many issues and problems in society. In Greek life, theater played an important role, and from here arose a form of drama known as tragedy. The tragedy focused on many themes such as love, loss, arrogance, abuse of power, and orchestrated relationships between gods and men. In these tragedies, the protagonist often inadvertently makes a bad decision, and when he learns of the mistake he has made, the world begins to collapse around him. The character of Oedipus, in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, is a great example of Aristotle's "high-minded man", Oedipus may not have the characteristic of remaining calm in petty situations, but he knows how to speak correctly to people of all backgrounds. classes and has a need for truth despite the consequences. In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is not a high-minded man due to his lack of self-control when angry. Aristotle states, “The man of high mind is not ready to run petty dangers” (Witt 160). This means that a high-minded man will not willingly run into danger unless it is for a good reason. He will assess the threat and find out if it is worth taking action before putting himself in a position to fight. Furthermore, a noble-minded man should have enough self-control tostop before the situation gets out of hand. In the Oedipus Rex Tiresias states: "I say that you are the murderer you seek." This was said during a discussion between Tiresias and Oedipus, Tiresias states that he will not reveal the information about Laius' death. Oedipus eventually forces him to tell the information, which in turn reveals that Oedipus was the one who killed the king. Later in the play, Iokaste reveals the details of the murder, which involved men leading Oedipus astray. The king was not killed in an act of honor, saying that when Oedipus killed the king it was purely due to anger and lack of self-control. This action is not characteristic of a high-minded man as he engaged in a little danger without good reason which led to the murder of another man. Although Oedipus may not have all the qualities of a high-minded man, Oedipus has the ability to be kind to the lower classes. “It is characteristic of the high-minded man, … to be haughty in his behavior towards those of high rank and favored by fortune, but affable towards those of the middle class; for it is a difficult and dignified thing to say about the latter” (Witt 160). A noble-minded man must be able to treat people correctly according to their class. This also refers to the fact that they have to be very careful about how they treat the lower classes as they don't want to be perceived badly by the public. Sophocles states, “Children, I would not have you speak through messengers, therefore I have come myself to listen to you” (Witt 110). In this scene, Oedipus speaks directly to the crowd about how he is here to help and that he wanted to speak directly to them. Oedipus is trying to connect with all crowds and people, this is characteristic of a high minded man as he tries to be kind and caring to the lower classes. Oedipus also wants it to be known that he respects and cares for people from the lower classes. Another quality that Oedipus has that is associated with a high-minded man is his concern for the truth about all things. “He must worry more about the truth than about what men will think of him.” A noble-minded man should always want to know the truth and should not worry about the consequences or effects the truth might have. Sophocles writes: “In the name of God, we all beseech you… What! Do you know something and don't want to tell us? Would you betray us all and ruin the state?”. Tiresias refuses to give Oedipus information, this causes Oedipus to become very frustrated and angry as he feels that the deprivation of this information affects the city. This shows that Oedipus is searching for the truth and only the truth. In this scene it is also ironic because Oedipus asks for the very information that will incriminate him and lead to his exile from the city. In this Oedipus is forcing Tiresias to tell the truth for the benefit of the city, even if this information will negatively affect him. The relationship between the character of Oedipus and the noble-minded man is that they both need the truth and are not worried about whether the truth will harm them or how others will look at them. Both are willing to risk everything as they search for the truth and are not swayed by possible outcomes. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The character of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, perhaps does not have the characteristic of self-control when angry, but he knows how to communicate correctly with people of all classes and needs the truth despite the consequences, thus making Oedipus a great example of Aristotle's “High-Minded Man”. The story of Oedipus Rex contains many underlying messages that relate to today's society when combined with the work of.