Oedipus the King was a hero to Thebes by getting rid of the Sphinx after answering a riddle correctly.However, he possessed an tragic flaw by always acting before thinking. Even though it was an “involuntary hamartia” and it could have been ignored if it were not for his arrogance and how impetuous he was (Innocence, 59, Gould). Even though Oedipus was a king, he was completely unaware of what the future held just like the rest of the people. However, Oedipus began his tragic life from the day he was born when an oracle told Laius,the former king of Thebes, and his wife that their child would kill them both, so he was sent off to another city named Corinth. Years later he stumbled among his real father Laius and killed him “and slew all but one of his attendants” (Barstow, 3). According to Barstow, Oedipus had always
…show more content…
He could have disregarded the incest if he would have just listened to Jocasta when she told him of how she had a son of the king who was there before him. Outrageous gaffe like this was done in his life that could have not gone ignored by the God's. For example, he could have listened to the oracles instead of being ignorant and acting almighty when the Gods wanted punishment on Laius murderer. Therefore, it was all fate from the day he was born to kill both of his parents, but later it changed to incest and parricide (Dodds, 20). It is understandable that his wrongdoings were far from intentional since he was not well informed of such things, and was taken away as a baby to another family being oblivious to all of this. However, he never listened to all the warnings he was given by the oracles or at least made some correlations between what Creon told him. Finally, as a man of his word, he blinded himself in front of Jocasta’s dead body. Just like the oracles had said that he would be the reason for his parents death at
He could have disregarded the incest if he would have just listened to Jocasta when she told him of how she had a son of the king who was there before him. Outrageous gaffe like this was done in his life that could have not gone ignored by the God's. For example, he could have listened to the oracles instead of being ignorant and acting almighty when the Gods wanted punishment on Laius murderer. Therefore, it was all fate from the day he was born to kill both of his parents, but later it changed to incest and parricide (Dodds, 20). It is understandable that his wrongdoings were far from intentional since he was not well informed of such things, and was taken away as a baby to another family being oblivious to all of this. However, he never listened to all the warnings he was given by the oracles or at least made some correlations between what Creon told him. Finally, as a man of his word, he blinded himself in front of Jocasta’s dead body. Just like the oracles had said that he would be the reason for his parents death at