Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. His downfall is the result of incidents beyond his control, and is rather the result of fate. In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. His characteristic flaws of pride and arrogance don't so much contribute to his downfall, but play more the role of hastening it.

From birth, a prophecy existed that he would kill his father and marry his mother, and so his downfall seems inevitable. When Oedipus discovers his parents are not who they seem to be and later discovers the prophecy, in a similar way to which Laius tried to manipulate fate by

If Oedipus had a serious harmatia, it was his hubris. The impetuous slaying of Laius could be attributed to Oedipus's pride and rash nature. Laius orders him out of the way at a crossroad, but Oedipus's pride, anger and temperament drives him to kill Laius for what he perceives as an insult. "the leader roughly ordered me out of the way... It was the driver that thrust me aside and him I struck" Oedipus at that stage, should have been careful about who he kills, and what he does, but his indiscriminate, violent and careless nature leads him to killing his own father over an incident only pride would cause.

The tragedy of Oedipus Rex is conveyed to the audience through several features common in Greek tragedies. Fate and destiny through the power and impact of god on man are the main causes of Oedipus's anargnorisis, but his flaws in character including pride and arrogance hasten his downfall. In the play, the audience are generally aware of the story, and what is going to happen, but through dramatic language techniques such as irony, the audience is kept interested, and the tragedy is conveyed to them.

The tragic nature of the play, is not only brought out by Oedipus's characteristic flaws, but also by the way he was treated by the gods. The gods in the play took advantage of his flaws, even though he displayed the qualities of a good man and a loving father and husband. He did what no other could do, destroyed the Sphinx and brought peace to the city, yet despite this, he was punished for a crime that was always going to happen. This reflects the thinking of the Ancient Greeks, that the Gods along with fate were at the top of the hierarchy, and no matter one did, they could not defy the gods. It also could be viewed that Oedipus, in his presumptuous attempt to raise himself to the level of the gods, was punished by the gods for this, as the

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)