Is Oedipus A Tragic Flaw

By definition tragic heroes can be considered one who is held up high by society for the good deeds they bring, but is then slowly or quickly taken away from that grace and placed in a world far below what they were originally. An example of this is the excerpt and the tragedy of Oedipus the king. The play shows that the faults humanity can fall through when put into a very stressful situation. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he wants to improve the lives of his citizens, he has a major human flaw of being impulsive and easily irritable, Oedipus takes more punishment than what the play told, his life and fate was not fully under his control, and he makes a vast realization with an equal amount of change.

The tragic fall of Oedipus in Sophocles play “Oedipus Rex” is both self-inflicted and result of events drawn from his own destiny. First off early on in Oedipus’ life his first deadly mistake towards succeeding his self-inflicted downfall was the murder of his father the former king. In a blind rage without any motive, he kills Liaus and his men at a rode crossing. Fate may have had led him to that point but it was his own rage that resulted in his biggest mistake. Further evidence of his self-inflicted downfall Oedipus’ was at the hands of his own ignorance. This ignorance combined with his stubborn, determined attitude does not allow him foresight. This foresight would have led

Because of his commitment to his people and their suffering, he sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to Delphi to see the gods to find out why his city is under such a great plague and what he can do to stop it. Creon returns and says, “… It was murder that brought the plague-wind on the city” and that it was King Laios that was murdered years ago (Prologue, 104-105). Vowing to bring the murderer to justice and being a just King, Oedipus decrees that if the murderer reveals himself he will not be killed, he will be exiled. This determination and tenaciousness was the beginning of the end of King Oedipus.

While investigating the sad blemish of Oedipus it can be seen that he, similar to all awful legends, has an awesome one. At the point when Aristotle characterized grievous legends he expressed that in spite of the fact that the saint may have numerous honorable characteristics, they would have an awful imperfection. As Sophocles built up his heartbreaking saint, King Oedipus, perusers can see the different appalling imperfections that he was given. While dissecting what at last drove Oedipus to his death was his terrible defect of a touchiness yet in addition his pride. We can see Oedipus show this when he says:

Throughout the vast history of literature, various concepts have come and gone. The idea of fate or fatalism has been a concept that has survived the test of time. Numerous characters have succumbed to the power of fate and the character of Oedipus from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a prime example of the vast power of fate within literature. Sophocles effectively depicts the wrath of fate as he portrays how Oedipus fell victim to fate and his efforts to disregard fate were futile. Once again fate manages to triumph and displays no character whether king or slave can avoid its gaze.

Oedipus let his anger and stubbornness take over him and that led him to changing his own fate. Therefore, he has put himself in the position he is in. Another example of Oedipus being responsible for is downfall is when, he killed all of the men except one who hit him when he was travelling. This is a downfall because he murdered multiple people and this has a huge impact on

Fate chose him to kill his dad, marry his mom, and discover it all in Oedipus Rex, Sophocles’ tragedy. Oedipus was so determined to save Thebes from the plague bestowed on them by Apollo. But little did he know that he was the source of it all. His constant reversal of fortune, neutrality, and suffering make him the perfect example of a classic Greek tragic hero.

Throughout the years since the play “Oedipus the King” was written, many people have reviewed it in many distinct ways. There are many reviews of this literary work that suggest that the character Oedipus had a tragic flaw; however, many others suggest that he actually lacked one. In the literary work “Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Oedipus Rex” it is written that “whether there is a tragic flaw in King Oedipus is uncertain” (Bloom 10). This does not provide an precise visualisation of what Oedipus’ tragic flaw might be; however, Oedipus does indeed have a tragic flaw. Although it can only be speculated what Oedipus’ tragic flaw might actually be, what seems most likely to be his tragic flaw, would be his fear of the fate that has

Oedipus initiates his downfall as the character curses the murderer of Laius, which exemplifies not only dramatic irony due to the audience’s prior knowledge of the hero's guilt but also Oedipus’ tragic flaw, ignorance (Sophocles 271). Sophocles providing Oedipus with these imperfections establishes him as a tragic hero, by allowing the audience to relate to this haughty king who fate dealt an ill life. Consequential to the audience anticipating the repercussions of this self inflicted curse from the beginning of the play, throughout the story this increasing of tension elicits pity for his circumstances and terror for the hero’s inevitable fall. Despite the negative emotions that arise as the spectators view this tale, the plot’s absurdity allows the onlookers to achieve catharsis through separating themselves from the fictional life of Oedipus, and in doing experience and purge these emotions without personal

The tragic flaw of a human being is usually checked with the method he or she reacts with to the circumstances that life throws upon him or her. Contemporary society appears to be fixated on giving gatherings of people cases of such individuals who, in spite of the affliction of their lives, that still transcend. In fact, maybe nobody is more fit for indicating triumph over struggles than Sophocles and William Shakespeare. In both Oedipus and Hamlet, for example, the primary characters struggle with many obstacles and consequences and find themselves with unimaginable problems furthermore and are compelling to choose what the correct decision will be. This develops to Oedipus and Hamlet becoming motivated, courageous people and also becoming dishonest to themselves throughout the two books. Shakespeare and Sophocles’ plays show that sometimes when dealing with consequences and the obstacles there are different ways to react instead of leading to a tragedy. Oedipus and Hamlet’s motivation in dealing with problems is evident when the two primary characters want to find out the murderers of their father’s. Their courageous actions develop them towards having one goal, which was to kill the former King, and show courageous traits towards other people. They become dishonest to their themselves and is showed throughout the two books, which then causes misfortune for both of them in the end. Despite the resemblances of the two, Hamlet is in control of his activities, and he very

The tragic hero suffers from a character flaw, a moral weakness in character. The flaw is what sets his actions and what inevitably leads to his downfall. The hero's downfall is partially his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or villainy or some overriding, malignant fate. Oedipus seems to make important mistakes or some "errors in judgment" that set the events of the story into action. Oedipus flaw is his pride and stubbornness. When a drunken man tells him that he is a bastard, his pride is so wounded that he will not let the subject rest, eventually going to the oracle of Apollo to ask it the

is a trait viewed as being favorable to a character at first, but it leads to their later downfall. It was often used in ancient Greek tragedies to show that mankind was susceptible to flaw. This was present in Sophocles 's tragedy, Oedipus the King. The protagonist of the tragedy,Oedipus, was not exempt from his own flaws. Oedipus’s traits of excessive pride and desire for knowing the truth were advantageous to him in the beginning, yet were the very things that contributed to his tragic downfall.

In the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus struggles to accept the truth and lets his temper over power him. He can be displayed as a tragic hero. His refusal to accept the truth led to Oedipus’ down fall. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, “is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” Sophocles’ Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

    From the beginning of this play, Oedipus made many risky actions that will take him to his downfall. Out of empathy for his suffering people, he had Creon go to Delph as he could have waited for the plague to end instead. "Upon the murderer I invoke this curse- whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many- may he wear out his life in misery or doom! If with my knowledge he lives at my hearth, I pray that I myself may feel my curse.” (Sophocles, 477; lines 266-271) Other than just finding clues to the murderer of King Laius, Oedipus summons a terrible curse on them. Without knowledge of who it could be yet, he is actually putting the curse on himself. When Oedipus was told that he was responsible for the murder of Laius, he threatens Teiresias, becomes enraged, calls the old oracle a liar, and ignores everything the oracle says. “If a man walks with

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is a story about a boy who was left by his own parents in the mountains, by himself, to die because of a prophecy that were given to his parents by the Oracle of Delphi. A shepherd found this young child and decided to bring him to King Polybus and Queen Merope, who can’t have a child of their own. The couple decided to adopt the child and name him Oedipus, which means swollen ankles because of the way the shepherd found him with his ankles pierced with pins. When Oedipus grew up, he saved the town from a beast which made Oedipus be considered a hero of his town. Oedipus is considered an epic hero, but also a tragic hero. An epic hero is someone who is applauded for his bravery against the beast. A tragic hero is someone who does good for its town, but does not always do the right thing which leads to their own ruin. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has a fatal prophecy that he could not bypass.