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
Oedipus's flaw is one of a physical nature, and not one of character. Laius went to an Oracle, received news he did not like and attempted to change his destiny. Oedipus went to an Oracle, and he too tried to flee his destiny. By running from his fate, Oedipus ends up sealing both his and his parent's destiny. The primary moral that the reader should come away with is to let nature take its course. The odds are, as Oedipus and Laius find out the hard way, fate will prevail anyway. Oedipus' name means "swollen foot." 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. It also does not make sense that this would be a flaw. The Greeks did not see pride as a negative attribute. 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). Although today's readers may see pride as a poor characteristic to have, the audience the play was initially designed for would not have seen it that way, and Aristotle himself almost definitely would not have considered pride to be a tragic flaw. Maybe the actual killing of Laius and his four servants is an extreme display of Oedipus' murderous temperament. While it may seem a bit extreme in hindsight, at the time of the incident his actions are totally justifiable. Oedipus descri
Some common words found in the essay are:
Laius Oedipus, Cornith Oedipus, Cornith Laius, King Greek, Creon Tiresias, Oedipus Oracle, , Mulder Scully, Oedipus Laius, Laius Oracle, close examination, examination text, close examination text, tragic flaw, evidence text,
Approximate Word count = 948
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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