Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. His downfall is the result of incidents beyond his control, and is rather the result of fate. In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. His characteristic flaws of pride and arrogance don’t so much contribute to his downfall, but play more the role of hastening it.

From birth, a prophecy existed that he would kill his father and marry his mother, and so his downfall seems inevitable. When Oedipus discovers his parents are not who they seem to be and later discovers the prophecy, in a similar way to which Laius tried to manipulate fat

e by sending Oedipus away, Oedipus also tries to change his destiny, by leaving Corinth “At this I fled away, putting the stars between me and Corinth, never to see home again.” Ironically it is when he I sleaving Corinth that he meets Laius and murders him. This reflects the beliefs of the ancient Greeks that changing fate was futile and fraught with danger, and this is further exposed by comments the chorus make towards the end "and let no man be called happy until the day he carries his happiness to the grave in peace."

If Oedipus had a serious harmatia, it was his hubris. The impetuous slaying of Laius could be attributed to Oedipus’s pride and rash nature. Laius orders him out of the way at a crossroad, but Oedipus’s pride, anger and temperament drives him to kill Laius for what he perceives as an insult. “the leader roughly ordered me out of the way… It was the driver that thrust me aside and him I struck” Oedipus at that stage, should have been careful about who he kills, and what he does, but his indiscriminate, violent and careless nature leads him to killing his own father over an incident only pride would cause.

Like in many tragedies, where a characters actions are due to forces beyond his control, Ate’ is inflicted upon Oedipus due to the gods The “ate encourages him to display unreasonable anger against Teiresias who he calls a “shameless and brainless, sightless, senseless sot” This exposes a characteristic flaw in that he is without grace, and exhibits uncontrollable anger.

Some topics in this essay:
Teiresias Nemesis, Jocasta Laius’s, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus Oedipus, Oedipus Jocasta, Greek Tragedy, Greeks Gods, King Thebes, characteristic flaws, oedipus rex, fate destiny, tragic nature play, irony reflected, gods gods, killer laius, inflicted oedipus, oedipus’s nemesis, beyond control, dramatic irony reflected, tragic nature,