Who Is King Oedipus Tragic Flaw

When the blind prophet Teiresias says that Oedipus is the killer he yells “You shall be sorry for this”(36) because his hubris prevents him from taking into consideration that he might be the killer even though he had said that even he was not exempt from scrutiny. Oedipus is so enraged that Teresius tried to accuse him of something so dishonorable that he makes fun of the blind prophet “Living in perpetual night you cannot harm me or any man who sees the light”(36). Oedipus’s statement is very ironic because it is he who is “blind” to the truth while the prophet has been given the ability to “see” the truth. Also, this reflects the light/dark symbolism that is present throughout the story because it is actually Oedipus who is in the dark but is is the prophet who sees the light of the truth. Oedipus feels that his pride has been threatened and he searches for someone to blame for trying to drive him from his throne. He then ends up falsely slandering Creon (Was this trick his(Creon), then, if not yours.)(36). Oedipus is so intent on stressing his innocence that he accuses his own brother in-law of conspiring against him in order to get the throne. Ironically, he blames Creon for conspiring against him even though he was the one who sent him to the oracle to find out the source of the famine. Oedipus’s overarching

Captivating heroes like Batman and Robin have become inspirational figures of modern day society that people love, but do they really dive into how tragic their lives really are? What happened to the truly emotional stories of tragedy rather than 15 minutes of non-important backstory? These heroes had done great things in their life, but fell gracefully from power due to selfish inhibitions and get remembered for how their mess up affected everyone else in the vicinity. Why can’t stories be as tragic as Sophocles’ Oedipus the King? He was a true tragic hero that saved his city and fell due to several flawed character traits. His drop from power came about because of his sense of hubris and ignorance to the presence of facts around him. People’s lives in the media should invoke more tragedy and suffering, making the character more relatable due to his flaws. While this doesn’t happen often, there are a few characters, like Duncan Dewey, that possess traits that make them tragic heroes.

"A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." -Aristotle No one wants to be a tragic hero. A great or virtuous character, but sadly they are destined for downfall because of their own judgement. Sophocles’ Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

In the story of Oedipus, Oedipus is considered a “Tragic Hero” because of the tragic fate and effect that he had upon his life. My definition of a tragedy is a great loss that has a unhappy ending to which concluded me to state that Oedipus falls under that category. Throughout the book, Oedipus is leading himself to his own destruction when trying to find the killer of the late King Laios. So when a journal article I found published by The John Hopkins University Press stated that a “tragic hero is a man who fails to attain happiness, and fails in such a way that his career excites, not blame, but fear and pity in the highest degree” ( Barstow, Marjorie.) there was no doubt in my mind that the story Oedipus fell under the category. In my

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

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.

15 years later, during Oedipus’ reign, he begins to take interest in the death of Former King Laius, for he was not aware that he was the one to murder him. Oedipus sends Creon to bring Tiresias to him and Tiresias basically sums up everything that Oedipus has done wrong, yet Oedipus, hardheaded as he is, clashes with Tiresias. Oedipus, while “stepping forward threateningly” (24), yells and spouts very serious allegations towards Tiresias and Creon. If at this time Oedipus had done anything but what he did he would have discovered much sooner his homicidal and incestuous

When discussing and analyzing a playwright by a greek dramatist one has to keep in consideration the patriarchal society of the time and the specific character traits the author is trying to portray. This idea is supported by E.R Dodds when he aptly tries to disprove the first two heresies he encountered when asking how the Oedipus Rex attempts to justify the ways of God to man (Bloom 18-24). These considerations will help in understanding the meaning behind the play. However, before getting to the meaning of the playwright one needs to probe Aristotle’s argument on what creates a tragic hero in the first place. “Aristotle finds the end of human endeavor to be happiness” which is a result principally from a “steady and comprehensive intellectual

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.

Creon advises Oedipus to enlist the help of the blind prophet Tiresias to solve the mystery. When he demands the answer as to who the murderer was,Tiresias told Oedipus that he, was the “defiler of this land,”(30). Essentially, Tiresias was telling Oedipus that he was the unclean thing the oracle referrers to that needs to be driven out of the land. Angered, outraged, and confused, Oedipus could not accept this truth of hearing he was the murderer, and further insulted the blind prophet. Similarly, Oedipus’s pride falsely leads him to think that he could escape his fate that he was told about in the prophecy. While in Corinth, Oedipus went to a shrine of Apollo, where he was told a prophecy in which he would murder his father, marry his mother, and have unnatural children. “The oracle of Phoebus Apollo said that I/ Must kill my father, lie with my mother. /This drove me out of Corinth. I regret nothing - /I have married happily, raised a family, known the sweetness of power” (61). Oedipus believes that since he escaped from his “parents” in Corinth, he escaped his fate and could no longer fulfill the prophecy. Because he did not believe in oracles, nor know Jocasta was his mother, nor know Laius was his father, he was certain at this point that he indeed was not king Laius’s murderer, despite Tiresias’s words. As the tragedy unfolds, it shows further evidence that he had fulfilled the prophecy. Oedipus’s pride, which was once seen as favorable to him, destroys

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.

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.

Oedipus’ hamartia is his determination. The term hamartia is the greek for a tragic flaw or error of judgment. An example of Oedipus’ determination is when he goes to find Laius’ murderer. Oedipus wanted to find Laius’ killer so he could save the city from Apollo’s revenge. Apollo put the city, Thebes under a plague as a punishment for Laius’ death. Apollo wanted the murderers of Laius to be either banished or killed. The journey to find the murderer lead to his downfall. If Oedipus wasn’t determined to find Laius he would never learned about his dark past.

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.

Let me start from the beginning I was born October 22, 1998, and lived an average life that was full of ups and downs well more downs than ups. I lived in Massachusetts till 2000 moved to Sanford then in 2003 I moved to my current house in West Newfield and have been living there for almost 15 years. I started school late since My twin and I missed the cut-off date and waited until the next school year to attend. I went to Line Elementary School until 6th grade then I went to Massabesic Middle School and Finally Massabesic High School. Now It’s almost 4 months since graduating high school and in my first year of University. Throughout that little summary of my life since birth nothing really stands out about me being an outsider or even feeling like one but I can tell you that throughout my I felt like an outsider at times and felt 100% accepted at times. My life is average like most other people. Found my group of friends and went on an adventure with them that helped me find out who I think I am and who I want to become. Went through hard times of losing family members, friends and pets and found love with people I thought I would never love. Life taught me that you will be an outsider on many of occasions and that you will accept and loved on many other occasions. No matter what life throws at you just be ready to catch it and throw the ball right back and say not today. Being or feeling like an outsider can be really hard and stressful on you. You could start trying to