Fate it is for Oedipus

Aristotle's definition, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is a king whose life falls apart when he

finds out his life story. There are a number of characteristics described by Aristotle that identify

a tragic hero. For example, a tragic hero must cause his own downfall; his fate is not deserved,

and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble stature and have greatness.

Oedipus is in love with his idealized self, but neither the grandiose nor the depressive

"Narcissus" can really love himself (Miller 67). All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a

tragic hero according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy, and a narcissist.

Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or

influential man who makes an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of

his actions. Those actions are seen when Oedipus forces Teiresias to reveal his destiny and his

father's name. When Teiresias tries to warn him by saying " I say that you and your most dearly

loved are wrapped together in a hideous sin, blind to the horror of it" (Sophocles 428). Oedipus

. . .
His nobility deceived him as well as his reflection, since it shows

only his perfect, wonderful face and not his inner world, his pain, his history (Miller 66). es not care and proceeds with his questioning as if he did not understand what Teiresias

was talking about. But

when it is prophesized to Oedipus, he sets forth from the city of his foster parents in order to

prevent this terrible fate from occurring. Oedipus is abandoned by his birth parents and is

denied their love, which is what results in what Miller calls "Depression as Denial of the Self".

According to Miller, a person who is great, who is admired everywhere, and needs this

admiration to survive, has one of the extreme forms of narcissism, which is grandiosity. Agreeing with Aristotle that Oedipus'

misfortune happens because of his tragic flaw. In tragedies, protagonists are usually of the nobility that makes their falls seem greater. I have been born where I should not be born,

I have been married where I should not marry, I have killed whom I should not kill; now all is

clear" (Sophocles 1144). His destiny is to be of noble stature from birth, which is denied to him by his parents,

but given back by the Sphinx. A prophecy is foretold to

Laius, the father of Oedipus, that the destiny of Oedipus is a terrible one beyond his control. Light, I shall not look on you Again.

Oedipus's decision to pursue his questioning is wrong; his grandiosity blinded him and,

therefore, his fate is not deserved, but it is far beyond his control. If one of these happens to fail, then the

catastrophe of a severe depression is near (Miller 34). If he hadn't been so judgmental or narcissistic, as

Miller would characterize a personality like Oedipus, he would never have killed King Laius and

called Teiresias a liar. Later, after his self-

inflicted blinding, Oedipus sees his actions as wrongdoing when he says "What use are my eyes

to me, who could never - See anything pleasant again?" (Sophocles 1293) and that blindness

does not necessarily have to be physical as we can se when he says, "If I had sight, I know not

with what eyes I would have looked" (Sophocles 1325).

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Approximate Word count = 915
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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