Fate Of A Tragic Hero: Oedipus As A Tragic Hero

Fate of all tragic heroes can be rather depressing, many of whom cannot control their own fate. Oedipus, from the play Oedipus Rex is a well known tragic hero all throughout the world. Oedipus is a tragic hero that has killed his own father, and married his mother. The tragedy that leads to this downfall is not a fault of Oedipus, himself but Cadmus, who has bought the hatred of Apollo, the God of Music. Apollo then sent out a tragic prophecy to Oedipus, a descent of Cadmus, leading to the tragedy of Oedipus, now known as Oedipus Rex. Oedipus, the protagonist from Oedipus Rex, is one of the greatest examples of a tragic hero.
Oedipus suffers from a series of tragic events. Oedipus is abandoned by his parents, Laius and Jocasta by having his …show more content…
Oedipus blinds himself without even a second of thought when realizes what he has done. From this, he has also learned “that he has been horribly wrong about his life” (Doc C), which allowed him to be ready to accept his responsibility. He did not show even a second of doubt for blinding himself, showing how serious he was of taking responsibility of his actions. When he blinds himself, he also implies that he will accept any punishment that will come from his actions. Once he has blinded himself, Oedipus exiles himself from Thebes and tells the citizen of Thebes what he has done. His action of exiling himself and telling the citizen of Thebes what he has done shows that he is ready to accept all the punishments that comes from what he has done. Not only did Oedipus punish himself, but he is also asking judgement of others upon himself to accept his fate and punishment which he thinks he deserves. Oedipus also willingly gives up his throne. Giving up his throne also shows a great significance because Oedipus was ready to do anything to protect his throne. Oedipus, who was ready to even kill his trustworthy friend, Creon has willingly given up the throne after he had realized what he has done and also accepted all punishments that go with it. Oedipus’s actions show that he is willing to take on the responsibility for his actions when he blinds and exiles himself from …show more content…
Oedipus goes through multiple events throughout the play, in which he suffers, makes multiple mistakes from his flaws, and even accepts his responsibilities for things he has done. Oedipus also qualifies for the other two characteristics of a tragic hero, being neither completely good or bad and arousing pity or fear in the audience. Oedipus, although who is mainly known for bad deeds at the end of the play, isn’t necessarily bad, in the beginning of the play, Oedipus communicates with people of Thebes, and actually shows care for the citizens, who was suffering from the plague. Oedipus can be bad at times as well, mainly due to his flaws, however there are definitely bad deeds he has done, along with the good deeds. One of the events that show that would be him killing all of Laius’s men, including Laius, simply because of what Laius said when he was drunk angered him. Along being neither completely good or bad, he also arouses pity or fear in the audience in multiple occasions. Many events such as him being abandoned by his parents, losing everything has aroused both pity and fear in the audience. The two characteristics of the tragic hero relates as well, as Aristotle once said “a tragedy can arouse these twin emotions of pity and fear only if it presents a certain type of hero or heroine who is neither completely good nor completely bad.” (Doc E). Oedipus, the protagonist from Oedipus Rex, met all