The question is does Oedipus have a tragic flaw? The answer is yes. His tragic flaw is pride and anger which keeps Oedipus from accepting his true fatal fate. His tragic flaw is what caused his downfall because he can’t accept the predictions about his life. He can’t admit that he killed the king, his own father, Laius. He does not get that the stranger he once killed was his father and that he married his own mother.
When Aristotle argues that tragic “is brought about not by vice or depravity” you can’t help but to think about Oedipus and his character. His impatience, his displeasure at just everything and anything, and for a minute you question whether he was a good person or someone who was completely driven by anger. But then all of those
Primarily, one of Oedipus’ character flaws is his rage. Oedipus’ rage is a big character flaw because this is one of the principles that lead to his downfall. One example of his rage was when he is told by Tiresias that he killed Laius. “You’ve lost your power, stone-blind, stone-death-senses, eyes blind as stone!” (278). This quote is significant because this is the first time Oedipus unleashes his rage at someone. His rage prevents him from accepting the truth about him killing his father. He also insults Tiresias in this quote by calling Tiresias blind. Next, the reader sees Oedipus’ rage when he lashes out at Creon because Oedipus accuses Creon of stealing Oedipus throne. “I see it all, the marauding thief himself scheming to steal my crown and power!”
This triggered his frustrating, inequitable fate to arise, which made him fit Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus’ only problem wasn’t just that he couldn’t control his temper; he also was full of himself, in other words, Hubris. Hubris is a tragic flaw in which he or she has excessive pride. When Oedipus believed he could overcome fate, he showed excessive pride when he commented, “Ah! Why should a man respect the Pythian hearth, or give heed to the birds that jangle above his head?” (50). He thought he overcame his fate when Polybos died, so he said there is no reason to follow or believe any of it. Greeks, like Aristotle, believe fate is unavoidable and it can’t be changed; so, when Oedipus truly believed he could defy his prophecy, that was highly frowned upon. Oedipus’ fate consisted of killing his father and marrying his mother subsequently having kids with her. On his way to Thebes, he killed King Laius out of rage at the crossroads and all of the witnesses except for one, who got away. Not thinking anything of it, he takes over the throne after defeating the Sphinx and marries Jocasta, who bore his four children. If Oedipus was smart, to avoid his fate, he could have just never wed or kill anyone; his fate couldn’t have been avoided because of his temper and just plain stupidity. Hamartia is the tragic flaw which causes the downfall. Oedipus showed no control when
Oedipus, the main character of Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. A tragic flaw is defined as “an otherwise good trait that turns destructive when taken to an extreme” (Stary). In a tragedy one can see the suffering of the main character, which is evident in Oedipus’ case. Oedipus’ tragic flaw is his determination, when he intensely seeks to find Laios’ murderer, forces the unwilling blind prophet Teiresias to reveal the truth, and when he stopped at nothing to prevent the prophecy from becoming true.
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:
Oedipus' flaw would be that he was very prideful and arrogant and believed that he was the best ruler for Thebes even though he knew that he had killed a man long ago but when you first meet Oedipus you see a strong, determined man to help all the people of Thebes and rid them and the country from the plague. Oedipus was also very angry and spiteful person and revealed this flaw when he started to get down to the truth he become mean and angry calling Kreon, Teiresias and the Messangers "blind" and accusing them of personally killing Laios. Oedipus would not believe any of these people until they brought the Shepard that had given him to the Messenger as an infant. The more he disputed the claims that he was the murderer the more he demanded
Aristotle, Ancient Greek philosopher whom did a lot of philosophizing, he believed in a logical reality. Aristotle’s objective was to come up with a universal process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every imaginable thing about reality. The initial process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, states of being and actions. Aristotle once said "A man doesn 't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall”. Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. Oedipus is in fact a tragic hero. Aristotle uses six different points to define a tragic hero. (1)The tragic hero must be of noble stature and have greatness. (2)Though the tragic hero pre-eminently great, he or she is not perfect. (3)The hero 's downfall is their own fault. (4) The hero’s misfortune is not fully deserved and the punishment exceeds the crime. (5)The fall is not a pure loss. (6) And though it arouses solemn emotion tragedy does not leave the audience in a state of depression. Using Aristotle definition of a tragic hero, I will show that in Oedipus in “Oedipus the King” is in fact a tragic hero; hence, how his decisions led to his downfall. Oedipus is a man of high standing (king of Thebes) intellectually (he 's a great solver of riddles) and morally he is determined to find the murderer and to end the plague of his people). His quest to find the murderer described by
What is a tragic flaw? Western religion tries to answer this with the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, wrath, sloth, greed, envy, and pride. However, all of these traits can be found in everyone to a certain degree. So does Oedipus poses a tragic flaw? Certainly, in a catholic point of view, but does it cause Oedipus’ demise? In the case of Oedipus his downfall was brought not only by his flaw but by the flaws of others. From examining the work as a whole it is clear that Oedipus’ tragic flaw helps the audience connect to Oedipus and brings forth the theme “The limits of free will.”
What flaw did Oedipus have that led him to weaken and do the things that he did? Everyone has flaws, even kings or anyone with high power. Flaws usually lead people to make bad decisions, so what flaw led Oedipus to make his decisions? Although some people might disagree and say it is part of human nature to make wrong decisions, it is also human nature to have flaws.
Tragic and foreboding are some of the many tones that overlook “Oedipus the King”. Oedipus is a hero with mostly good intentions but because of his tragic flaw of ignorance ends himself in agony. The fact
The characteristic of the tragic flaw has not only lead to the hero's demise, nevertheless may also persuade the reader to sympathize with the character. Consequently, it follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero Oedipus should have some sort of flaw. So, the question is does Oedipus really have a tragic flaw? The answer is yes. The Oedipus tragic flaw is pride and rage which remain Oedipus from obtaining his true fatal fate. What caused the tragic flaw because, he could not accept the predictions about his life. Oedipus can’t admit that he killed the king, his own father, Laius. Oedipus does not get that the stranger, he once killed was his father, and that he married his own mother Jocasta. Also, Oedipus announces to the Theban people, that if any man confesses, he will be banished, however, he will be punished as
Oedipus is one of the most famous tragic heroes in drama history. His bizarre fate leads him to a tragic defeat that leaves the audience and reader feeling emotionally overwhelmed. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus’ story makes him as a tragic hero. Oedipus is the personification of Aristotle’s characterization of a tragic hero through his ability to maintain and keep his virtue and wisdom, despite his shortcomings and situation in life. Aristotle’s observation of a tragic hero does not reveal the lack of morality or the evil of the character, based on an error in judgment. The tragedy and drama fit the Aristotelian characteristics of Oedipus.
One of the greatest and most important tragic themes in Greek tragedy is known as hamartia; a personal blunder or unsettled personality trait that the protagonist possesses, that eventually leads to his ruin or death. This personality defect, also known as 'tragic flaw” is uniquely present in all of the following texts: “The Raven”, “The Elephant Vanishes”, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, Metamorphosis, and “Ozymandias”. In each of the stories, the main character possesses a unique tragic flaw that he cannot control or overcome which ultimately leads to his own downfall or demise.
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.
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
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.