The Role Of Excessive Pride In The Sophoclean Hero

In “The Sophoclean Hero and Aristotle,” Aristotle states that the tragic hero is always subjected to “hamartia” or a tragic flaws. According to Aristotle in the Sophoclean Hero and Aristotle's, “...Hamartia... ‘to miss the mark" (as in archery), ‘to fail in one's purpose’, ‘to make a mistake’...”and Pentheus and Oedipus mistake is that they are too proud of themselves. In Oedipus Rex By Sophocles and The Bacchae by Euripides, Oedipus and and Pentheus respectively have excessive pride because of their high standing in society. They both believe that nothing is above them and nothing can bring harm othem. This attitude blinds them from truth and become irrational then disrespect the wise who try to help them. When they become irrational,they disrespect people and do things that lead to their downfall. In a way this is a chain reaction. First comes excessive pride, then comes irrationality, they become disrespectful, and their down …show more content…
Oedipus and Pentheus hamartian quality of excessive pride leads them to become irrational and to disrespect the wise but does excessive pride always lead to irrationality?
The source of Oedipus and Pentheus’ excessive pride come from their false sense of security. When Oedipus was told he was to kill Laius and marry his mother, he fled his home. He thought he was safe and that he couldn’t be harmed because he thought that he escaped his fate. He later went on to answer the sphinx's question and became king. Him leaving homing to escape his fate and becoming king combine to form excessive pride in