Oedipus Downfall
In Sophacles play of a tragic hero named Oedipus, Oedipus tragic flaw was his pride, his pride would eventually lead him to his downfall because of he was ignorant, extremely stubborn, and he believed that he was better than the Gods. Oedipus threw himself down the drain because of his pride.
Oedipus was too prideful and got way too ahead of himself. He never thought about anyone but himself. When Jocasta tried to tell Oedipus not to send out for the shepherd, Oedipus said Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must! I must know my birth, no matter how common it may be must see my origins face-to-face (306). Oedipus was too wrapped up in his own pride to realize that he was about to crush it by doing what Jocasta asked him not to do. I think Oedipus thought that Jocasta though that he wasnt born into royalty and he thought that she didnt want him to know because it would hurt him and crush his pride. Oedipus was too ignorant to see the truth.
Oedipus pride lead to his ignorance because he refused to see the truth from Tiresias, a blind prophet. Tiresias told Oedipus, I say you are the murderer you hunt (277) when Laius is murdered. Oedipus was too prideful to realize that Tiresias was right, Oedipus was very ignorant. He then started to make fun of Tiresias because he was blind and Tiresias told him, Now smear us with insults Creon, myself, and every word Ive said. No man will ever be rooted from the earth as brutally as you (280). Oedipus was also ignorant the to listen, he did not believe him once again. As well as being ignorant, Oedipus is very stubborn, which also lead him to his downfall.
When Jocasta told him not to send for the shepherd, Oedipus was too stubborn to listen. He didnt even care what she wanted even though she know the truth. I think Oedipus only thinks about himself and nobody else. Oedipus stubbornness lead to his downfall because he refused to believe anything the blind prophet, Tiresias said and he was shocked to find out that it was the truth. Oedipus is also too stubborn to see that he is not better than all the Gods.
Because Oedipus thought he was better than the Gods, they sent the plague on the city. At the beginning of the play, a priest comes to talk to Oedipus at the royal house of Thebes and he says, and the plague, the fiery god of fever hurls down on the city, his lightning slashing through us - raging plague in all its vengeance, devastating the house of Cadmus! And Black Death luxuriates the raw, wailing miseries of Thebes (265). This quote says a lot. It shows that the Gods were angry. They were angry because Oedipus was so prideful that he thinks that the people of Thebes should pray to him instead of their Gods. Oedipus thought that he was way better that he really was. He was too oblivious to see why the plague had hit Thebes.
Oedipus set himself up for failure because of his pride. Oedipus was too stubborn, ignorant, vain, and oblivious. It was all because of those flaws that he ended up blind, taken away from Thebes, and forever miserable. I think that he finally realized this by the end of the play. He says, Take me away, far, far from Thebes, quickly, cast me away, my friends this great murderous ruin, this man cursed to heaven, the man deathless gods hate most of all. (315). I think that Oedipus deserved his downfall. He proved to the audience very quickly that he was not good for his role as kin
Works Cited
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King."Glencoe Literature. Trans. Robert Fagles. Woodland Hills: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2000. 261-323. Print. World Literature.
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