Oedipus the King: The Tragic Flaws of Oedipus Essay

Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain, a pain that stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. He freely chooses to pursue and eventually accept his own life's destruction. Although fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his undying quest for the truth ruin him.

Oedipus was a powerful man that had his life ruined by his excessive pride and selfishness. The same qualities that helped him to rise and become the king of Thebes also caused him to feel a lot of pain. He lost everything that he had gained in a short period of time. Oedipus learned that having power was not all that he thought it was. His life had been a lie and he actually didn’t know anything about the place he was born until he was instructed to save it. Oedipus himself caused his downfall with his selfishness and pride.

Aristotle’s tragic hero is one of the most recognizable types of heroes among literature. A tragic hero combines five major points all of which have to do with the hero’s stature in society, his faults, how these faults effect him, the punishment his faults gets him, and how he reacts to this punishment. Aristotle explained that the story of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a perfect example of a tragic hero. In the play, Oedipus is given a prophecy in which he is told that he will kill his father then marry his mother. As in many Greek plays, Oedipus tries to run from his prophecy and ends up fulfilling exactly what it is foretold. Through the play we see that Oedipus posses many of the characteristics

Oedipus is referred to as “Everyman” because he represents both the wise and the foolish people. He also represents pathos and hubris. For example, he and Tiresias accuse each other of blindness and arrogance; blindness of the truth and excessive pride. People of Thebes look up to Oedipus as somewhat of a God and savior, however hey do not directly compare him to a God. Therefore they expect him to heal the city’s wound.

Escaping Fate Fate can manipulate us like a puppet. It does not care how much good or bad you have done in our lives. Once fate preys on you there is no escaping. Oedipus was a victim of fate.

Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King is Sophocles’s first play of “The Theban Cycle.” It tells the story of a king that tries to escape his fate, but by doing so he only brings about his downfall. Oedipus is a classic example of the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a basically good and noble person who causes his own downfall due to a flaw in his character.

Oedipus was a tragic hero. Sophocles, instead of killing Oedipus in the end of the novel, chose to give Oedipus a fate worse then death. Oedipus found out who he was and that he killed his father and slept with his mother. His tragic end was a result of his hamartia, hubris. His pride was what caused him to attack the carriage and kill his father, which led to him marrying his mother. He

However, in spite of all of his positive qualities, he is a man that is prone to arrogance and impulsive behaviors. At the opening of the play, when he addresses the city about the plague, he tells them not to worry for “Here I am myself...the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (7-8), implying that he can solve any problem simply because of who he is. Oedipus also shows his arrogance by comparing himself to the gods. After hearing the chorus’ cries to the gods for help he tells the city of Thebes to “Let [him] grant [their] prayers...listen to [him]”(245-246). Oedipus displays his quick temper after the prophet Tireseas declines to tell him who Laius's murderer is; he hastily becomes infuriated at the prophet, telling him he is "scum of the earth . . . [a man who] would enrage a heart of stone" (381).

Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. Sophocles's tragedy represents a monumental theatrical and interpretative challenge. Oedipus Rex is the story of a King of Thebes upon whom a hereditary curse is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of fate (tragic flaws or hamartia). In the play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.

In antiquated Greek drama, tragedy plays had a way of appealing to the audience effortlessly. Greek tragedies are still performed and read across the world in modern-day. Oedipus Rex, a standout amongst the popular tragedies, is written by Sophocles. Within every tragedy play, one character takes the role of a grievous or tragic hero. As stated by Aristotle, certain attributes characterize a deplorable legend or a tragic hero. In Oedipus Rex, the fundamental character, Oedipus, carries imperfections as well as inevitable fate much like a tragic hero.

The story of Oedipus is a perfect example of family secrets and mysteries that lie within a society. No matter which era or generation, there will always be similar stories and events like Oedipus. Mankind is fascinated by mystery, and when is specific to their families, the urge and curiosity to get to the bottom of things will always be present. The basic questions of who am I? And where did I come from? Will always be the driving force behind any individual in the search for the truth. The story of Oedipus can be seen both as tragic as well as heroic in some of his actions, ignorance cannot be used to excuse a crime but it can make it unintentional.

In the greek drama, Oedipus the king by Sophocles, King Oedipus shows all the characteristics of a tragic hero. By definition A tragic hero is, “A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate suffers a fall from glory into suffering”. That definition perfectly describes Oedipus and his life. Throughout this whole story we see the real Oedipus emerge. Oedipus starts out in the beginning by being the best king around but by the end of the story we see the ups and downs of his life and how it changed forever. In the story we here Oedipus say these words, “ah! My poor children, known, ah known too well, the quest that brings

The most crucial point in the play “Oedipus the king” was the fact that Oedipus was completely unaware that he killed his own father. He had a mission to find out who was his father’s killer. Effectively the more Oedipus was motivated and with his excessive confidence in knowing the truth of who killed his father, the play began to unravel and starts to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle that Oedipus was known for figuring out. The more he pushed in finding who his father killer was the more he was towards his reality of terror. The place where three roads meet was the place where Laius was killed and the place where Oedipus, himself had killed a man. He thought his father was a man named Polypus, the king of Corinth yet a man had shouted out at a banquet that he was not his father’s son. He was given a apprehension of “a future great with pain, terror, disaster…You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children

The first reason that Oedipus’s fate had a larger impact on his tragic end is that it was prophesied that he would kill his father and marry his mother and it came true. On lines 784-788 the text states, “ An oracle came to Laius one fine day (I won't say from Apollo himself but his underlings his priests) and it declared that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son, to be born of our own flesh and blood...my son he wasn’t three days old and the boy’s father fastened his ankles, had a henchman fling him away on a barren, trackless mountain”. This is the prophecy stating that Oedipus will kill his father, told to Laius. Jocasta exclaims that Laius had their boy killed, but Oedipus, her biological son, was obviously not killed because he was the one that killed Laius. On lines 884-898 it states, “Making my way toward this triple crossroad I began to see a herald...a man, just as you’ve described him, coming face to face, and the one in the lead and the old man himself were about to thrust me off the road-brute force- and the one shouldering me

According to Aristotle's theory of tragedy and his definition of the central character, Oedipus the hero of Sophocles is considered a classical model of the tragic hero. The tragic hero of a tragedy is essential element to arouse pity and fear of the audience to achieve the emotional purgation or catharathis. Therefore, this character must have some features or characteristics this state of purgation. In fact, Oedipus as a character has all the features of the tragic hero as demanded by Aristotle.