'Mind of the ruler when faced with challenges' - examples from the plays of Sophocles.

Abstract

The paper examines how Sophocles, the Greek Classical Tragedian has examined how the mind of a ruler, changes when he is faced with challenges through his tragedy Oedipus Rex. The change of personality when one believes that his people do not obey him, the manner he assumes that he has enemies, the inability to listen, to have a second thought and finally how he considers all critics as traitors to the county is examined with reference to the text of the play. The text is particularly quoted where one feels that the words reach beyond the limits and barriers of time. The study proves that the psychological state of the individual is liable to hinder sound judgment when he believes that the state and the ruler are synonymous.