Oedipus Tragic Flaw

Tragic flaw is a characteristic that is said to not only lead to the hero's demise but may also enable the reader to sympathize with the character. So it follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek tragedy, the tragic hero Oedipus should have some sort of flaw. However, after close examination of the text, no distinguishable "flaw" is revealed. Although Oedipus appears to have many "flaws" on the surface, namely his poor temperament, carelessness, curiosity and pride, close examination of the text reveals that he has many seemingly flawed characteristics that are not only justifiable but in some cases to be expected.

One might expect that a quick and even murderous temper would be considered a serious impediment to Oedipus. However, he is quite justified in his rage against Creon and Tiresias, and he has good reasons to suspect them of plotting against him. From the view point of Oedipus, he has just discovered that the antecedent king Laius was savagely murdered along with the members of his entourage. Furthermore the murder has yet to be solved many years later, and the gods have placed a plague on his city until the murderer(s) is apprehended and punished. After learning of the death of Laius, Oedipus concludes that the murde

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As Mulder and Scully would say, "the truth is out there. The Greeks did not see pride as a negative attribute. Therefore any offense, especially by some old man and his servants, is cause for a serious reprimand. There is evidence of this in other Greeks works where entire wars were fought to protect the pride of one man over the loss of a woman(Helen). However, as a damaging flaw, curiosity does not hold. The saying "curiosity killed the cat" definitely holds true here.

Maybe the actual killing of Laius and his four servants is an extreme display of Oedipus' murderous temperament.

Oedipus' name means "swollen foot. In the case of Oedipus, this means murder. " Could it be that Oedipus has a swollen head? Is his pride the damning characteristic? The fatal flaw? There is no evidence in the text to support this view. From the view of the audience, this is the most logical course of action. rer is "a thief, so daring, so wild, he'd kill a king? [It's] impossible, unless conspirators paid him off in Thebes" (140-142). While it may seem a bit extreme in hindsight, at the time of the incident his actions are totally justifiable.

Approximate Word count = 948
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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Essay's Topics

close examination text

tragic flaw

evidence text