Who Is Oedipus A Tragic Hero

By definition, a tragic hero is a character who is unavoidably doomed. That hero’s fate has already been decided but the character usually spends the entire course of a story trying tirelessly and unsuccessfully to change that. Oedipus easily falls into this definition. Oedipus is also a hero that

A tragic hero is a person who has qualities of a hero such as intelligence and strength but makes choices that lead to their self-destruction. The tragic hero is usually from a noble family or high position. Oedipus from The Sophocles is a tragic hero because he possesses tragic flaws such as hubris, hamartia, and too much curiosity. Marcus Brutus, a Roman politician, also serves to be a tragic hero since he is too naive, honest, and sometimes impulsive. Both Oedipus and Brutus have certain characteristics that determine them to be a tragic hero.

As soon as you started reading anyone could tell that Oedipus thought he was perfect and nothing or nobody could dethrone him. But no matter how hard you try you can't escape destiny. When he was a baby his parents found that his destiny was to kill his father and marry his mom. They made the decision to send him to die. He was tie up just waiting to die when a Shepherd walk by and saved him. The shepherd took him to King Polybus and Queen Merope , they took care of him and he always thought they were his real parents. But you can never escape destiny. Which is why he went started as a hero but later on became a villain.

"A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." -Aristotle. In Greek culture, a tragic hero is defined as a person of high social rank, who has a tragic flaw or flaws that lead to their downfall. William Shakespeare's King Lear and Sophocles Oedipus Rex are two classic pieces of literature in which involves a tragic ending for both protagonists lear and Oedipus. The naive nature of King Lear and the arrogance pride of Oedipus lead them to a blindness which is both physical and metaphorical. both King Lear and Oedipus displays comparative characteristics such as role of fate and free will, role of destiny and the ignorance which makes them being regarded as tragic heroes.

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.

Oedipus the King is seen as a perfect tragedy. It features a hero with a tragic flaw, Oedipus, and highlights many common themes in Greek tragedy such as fate or destiny, love, pride, loss, the abuse of power, and a tense relationship between man and God. It also meets the five main standards for a tragedy: a tragic hero of noble birth, a tragic flaw, a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and catharsis [HubPages]. In this play, the audience learns of Oedipus’ past and hears foreshadowing of his future all while we see him trying to figure it out for himself. He

A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a man who is great but also terribly flawed, who experiences misfortunes while still remaining admirable to the audience at the end of the play. One of Aristotle’s favorite works, Oedipus the King, a play by Sophocles, is a play that above all others, defines the meaning of what a true tragic hero really is. In the play, Oedipus the King, the story unfolds after Oedipus unintentionally kills his own father and goes on to marry his mother. The events of the play are tragic, but it is the way that Oedipus handles the tragedies that make him a tragic hero.

In Sophocles tragedy Oedipus the King, King Oedipus swears to solve the murder of former King Laios in order to free the city from the plague. The plague taunts the city destroying crops and livestock and making the women unable to bear children. A seer, Teirsias tells Oedipus that he himself is Thebes’s pollution for killing his father and marrying his mother. Oedipus ignores his words and is blind to the truth until he discovers that it is he who corrupts the city. In order to illustrate Oedipus as the perfect Aristotelian tragic hero, the reader must examine his noble stature that gives him authority, his hamartia resulting in his downfall,

Desperately attempting to escape his fate, Oedipus, the tragic hero of Sophocles’ play, ran away from his prophecy yet tragically could not escape. The moment Oedipus was born, his entire life was decided for him with nothing that he could decide for himself. However, even after miraculously living even though his parents ordered him to be killed, Oedipus demonstrates his personality as a leader and hero. Throughout the entire play, Sophocles makes it clear that Oedipus is always putting his nation and the city that he rules over his own needs. Although tragic fate caught up to Oedipus, the audience continues to endlessly support him due to his actions towards the Sphinx, the characteristics he exemplifies of a hero, and what his fate brought.

All of the tragic heroes have unfortunate things in common. They all have certain qualities that make them a tragic hero. Hamartia is a required trait for the person to be considered a tragic hero. Also, hubris is needed to complete the tragic hero. The thing is there are multiple definitions of a tragedy. People believe that regular people are more capable of partaking in a tragedy. Hamlet and Oedipus are examples of the traditional tragedy. Hamlet’s actions were all voluntary. He knew what he was doing and the consequences. Oedipus suffered from fate of his family. He didn’t realize exactly what he was doing or the consequences. Oedipus is the truest tragic hero according to the traditional definition of a tragedy, the downfall of his royalty and uncontrollable fate is a perfect example.

The tragic hero is a great man who is neither a model of integrity or experiences the change to adversity through any impiety however, it is because of a fault, in this play Oedipus is our tragic hero. Our story starts out with Thebes in a plague when their king Oedipus finds out the cause is since a murderer was not punished. So he goes in search of the murderer, which he is told that it is him, and over time he starts to become nervous that this is true because of his past when he ran from a prophecy and killed several men. By the end of the story Oedipus finds out that the prophecy that he was running from has already come true and that he is the murderer. In Sophocles’ tragic play Oedipus the King, Oedipus fulfills the archetype of the

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

Considering Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, it can be found that Oedipus fits the character description flawlessly through various traits that he displays and the foundation of his tragic fall:

Oedipus Rex would be considered a tragic hero because he possesses hubris and hamartia which is shown throughout the story. Oedipus’s downfall was caused by several things acting upon him like hamartia and his sins. Hamartia is the major flaw in a character that causes their downfall which for Oedipus was his pride. Hubris is the flaw of excessive pride which Oedipus shows tremendously in the story. The definition of a tragic hero is “an extraordinary man brought down by some tragic fall or weakness, and his downfall, in turn, weakens the fabric of his society” (“A Flawed Presidency”).

A hero is not always the one who saves the day, sometimes is just someone who commits mistakes but accepts them with honor. In the play Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, the city where the story takes place is under a plague. The reason why Thebes is under this plague is due to the gods being angry towards the murderer of King Laius, the previous ruler of the city. The present king, and the main character, Oedipus, desires to save the city by finding the murderer and killing him or sending him into exile. During Oedipus’s search for the murderer, he discovers the truth about his birth; knowing this changes him forever. Throughout the play, Oedipus develops as a tragic hero. He accomplishes this by starting with who he is as a person, this includes his heredity and his tragic flaws, following this his tragic flaws lead him to make permanent errors that will damage him and his future, towards the closure of the play, when Oedipus finds out the truth about his destiny, he bears his fate with honor because it is now too late to fix his mistakes.