Oedipus and Humanity's Flaw

A detailed Summary of Oedipus and Humanity's Flaw


While the play Oedipus the Wreck was about a king whose reign was destroyed by his own deeds, the message contained within the play was much deeper, and aimed towards every man and woman. That message was that humanity's worst and most unconquerable enemy is their own misgivings.

One needs only look at Oedipus' life to see how this is evident. Here's a man who has conquered incredible odds and solved the unsolvable riddle. Then, again to his fortune, the land he saves is without king, so they anoint him as king. But his good fortune doesn't last forever - in fact, these very same events lead to his downfall.

Upon a closer look, we can see that Oedipus had been trying to avoid a horrible prophesied fate. In fear of a prophecy, which stated he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, he ran from his hometown. After this, he had unknowingly killed his f


ather (whom he thought was a stranger) and when he became king he fulfilled his prophecy by unknowingly marrying his mother. So in fact, by trying to avoid his fate, he had in fact fulfilled it.

One could argue that the gods, who had announced the prophecy, had trapped Oedipus and doomed him to his fate. This, however, undermines the fact that Oedipus himself fled and began the journey that led to the fulfillment of the prophecy. It was his own cowardice which made him flee. Instead of trying to take fate into his own hands, he instead tried to avoid it.

This was not his only flaw however; his own arrogance led him to condemn an innocent man of conspiracy, when that man in fact spoke the truth. It also led him to deny the truth until he could no longer, and this made the realization ever the more horrible. In the end, his own cowardice and arrogance destroyed him. But even after all had been s

Some common words found in the essay are:
Oedipus Wreck, Laius Oedipus, Jacosta Oedipus, Fatal Flaw, trying avoid, own arrogance, own cowardice, oedipus wreck,

Approximate Word count = 608
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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