Reasons For The Tragedy Of Oedipus

The downfall of Oedipus is result of his ignorance and arrogance through the course of the play. He had to learn through the hard way that he can not change his fate. For this reason he made a final attack on the prophecy by blinding himself to coward behind the reality, the work of the prophecy. Truly, pride is the germ of

Fate is the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. It is a very common theme used in literature. We’ve seen examples from stories such as: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Iliad. We’ve been reading Oedipus the King written by Sophocles. My main thesis that I would be talking about is if: Oedipus was actually a victim of fate, or did he deserve what he got.

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

Equally important to the role of fate in bringing about the downfall of Oedipus is the human flaw of arrogance that clouded Oedipus’ intellect to reason. One can ultimately see this human flaw in the beginning of the play as he says “Here I am myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (p 262, line 7-9). One day Oedipus heard someone say that he wasn’t his father’s son in which bothered him greatly and triggered his curiosity in whether Polybus and Merope were his biological parents. So, as a way to figure out his identity and true origins, he left to Delphi to see the Oracle. However, instead of answering Oedipus’ answer of who his true parents were, the Oracle told him of his fate that “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see – you will kill your father the one who gave you life” (p. 297, lines 873-875). Hence, his arrogance is clearly showed as he disregards the prophecy, similar to the actions of Laius and Jocasta by escaping it, as he abandons Corinth and sets forth to a place where he “would never see the shame of all those oracles come true” (p. 297, lines 879-880). His flaw of

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.

In short, Oedipus is a poor leader. He is irrational which leads to him being hot headed, and ultimately leads to him being naive and blind to the truth. The irrationality of this character shows readers that negative actions will lead to someone’s

Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any man’s conceptualization or control. Oedipus’ actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus’ actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He tried to escape Corinth when he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life. Instead, he

Oedipus’s tragic flaw is gained once he obtained his greatness and became king. Oedipus’s knowledge contained arrogance, and a metaphorical blindness that fosters his urge for the truth. Hence, Oedipus’s tragic flaw was his own intelligence, which later became curiosity for the all the burdens that is be fallen over his kingdom. He had a troubling obsession for learning the truth, so he could not sit aside so he went on a menacing quest for answers. Oedipus stated a message that reveled his flaw, “Then once more I must bring what is dark to light, but for my own sake to be rid of evil” ( Sophocles 134; 140). His pride and determination clouded his judgment to see the surface of the whole truth. The truth is Oedipus wanted to avoid his fate, but instead his own tragic flaw walked him into it. Even after Oedipus learned of the truth from the prophecy, his mind continued to deny what was the actual truth. The prophet spoke these words to Oedipus, “I say that you, with your eyes, are blind / you can not see the wretchedness of your life” (Sophocles 196-197). He still ventured on to find the alternative to his fate and he only became worse. Soon Oedipus’s pride corrupted his intelligence increasing his flaw. He now accused anyone who restated the prophecy and told all they were only after his crown.

Oedipus is introduced as a caring king, with the flaw that he’s always priding himself for what he does for the people. Like this we can relate to him, because no human is perfect and we make mistakes when we try to find ourselves. By trying to be a good man he leads himself to his own ruin although he doesn’t know it yet. His pride blinded him from the truth. When he finds the truth, he recognizes his actions and feels guilty. If he wasn’t responsible

Evidence: “ How i weep for you -- I cannot see you now… just thinking of all your days to come, the bitterness, the life that rough mankind will thrust upon you… such disgrace and you must bear it all! Who will marry you then? Not a man on earth. Your doom is clear: you’ll wither away to nothing, single, without a child. (Line 1625-1645)

Oedipus’ destiny or fate had little to do with his downfall. The prophet told Oedipus that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, but the prophet never mentioned Oedipus murdering Laius on the highway, or solving the Sphinx’s riddle, or accepting and taking advantage of his kingship. Oedipus blinding himself was an example of free will, “for he removed from…[Jocasta’s] garment the golden brooches which she was wearing…” by choice “…and struck the sockets of his own eyes..” blinding himself Free will and hubris, according to the ancient Greeks, were separate from unavoidable fate. Oedipus’s fate was to kill his father and marry his mother. However, everything else, including fleeing Corinth, solving the Sphinx’s riddle, and finally pursuing the truth about his life, was by his own free will, a direct result of his ego and pride. Oedipus Rex is a story about the dangers of pride and arrogance, one teaching about the importance of humility and tolerance, and one stressing about the control of hubris, a potentially perilous quality that destroyed Oedipus’s vision and his life.

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

In the play Oedipus Rex, we get follow the story of current King Oedipus, and his struggle to discover who killed the King prior to himself, King Laius; but in the process of trying to discover the truth, he also leads to his own downfall. Oedipus is a perfect example of how “Ignorance is bliss”, if you don’t know something, do not try to look into it. Oedipus makes the mistake of looking into something too much, and he discovers that he wife is really his mother, and that he also murdered his father. Oedipus is a great example of a “Tragic Hero”, he has good intentions of trying to save Thebes by looking for the killer, but he ends up causing his own downfall. Oedipus Rex is a warning from Sophocles stating that you should not attempt to look

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.

The first quality of Oedipus that justifies him as a tragic hero is in his lack of self-knowledge. Oedipus can be seen has someone who is not genuinely satisfied until he or she solves all of his life’s puzzles and the last riddle of his life. Oedipus physical strength gave him a great opportunity to be the king. This physical strength which he possesses and misuses also marked the beginning of his downfall. In the beginning of the play Oedipus has perfect vision; however, he is blind and ignorant of the truth about himself and his past. As a result; he gains too much pride and confidence and starts to believe he is impalpable. He desperately wants to know, to see, but he can’t. His actions must somehow overcome his blindness. Ironically, into the play a prophet was introduced, a seer, Teresias, who is physically blind, but who is clairvoyant. Teresias says to Oedipus, I tell you, no man that walks upon the earth/ shall be rooted out more horribly than you (S1. .1117). This describes Oedipus as a man ignorant to the true appearance of things, this blind man could see the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus in all of his physical strength cannot.