• Shubham Yadav

ABSTRACT: From the ancient Greek tragedy to the modern tragedy, the plots of ethical paradoxes appear repeatedly in various works due to the confusion of the characters in the drama. According to literary ethics criticism, the ethical paradox of western tragic characters is the result of ethical choice; the solution of ethical paradox depends on how the "ethical knot" is solved, in the process of ethical choice of theatrical characters, accompanied by ethical contradictions or after solving, transferring or ending, ethical public opinion is finally solved. This article believes that the problem of public opinion in a Western drama is not only caused by identity confusion, in fact, many other elements that constitute drama may lead to public opinion problems, such as the emotional paradox of drama, the paradox of action, and the paradox of time and space and language paradox, etc., are all areas of Western tragic paradox research. Therefore, the study of public opinion can provide a new perspective on Western tragedy. In the ancient Greek tragedy "Oedipus the King", there is such an important "discovery", a character, her existence changed and promoted the narrative process of the drama, she is the "Sphinx" who committed suicide by jumping over the cliff due to the riddle of Oedipus. This paper particularly examines ethical paradoxes of “The Sphinx” appeared in Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King”.

Sphinx, Oedipus, Human, Identity, Ethical Literary Criticism; western tragedies; ethical paradox

"“THE MYSTERY OF SPHINX” AND THE ETHICAL PARADOX OF WESTERN TRAGIC CHARACTERS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no.412-415, May-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1905F62.pdf

"“THE MYSTERY OF SPHINX” AND THE ETHICAL PARADOX OF WESTERN TRAGIC CHARACTERS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no. pp412-415, May-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1905F62.pdf