This play, written by Sophocles, is the perfect outline of a typical Greek tragedy. All of the elements, in my opinion, encompass this characteristic and are obvious in its irony and its tragic hero.
As intelligent as the main character in this story was, he was blind of the truth even though he seeks it throughout the plot. The truth in this story was that Oedipus, in his attempt to flee from him own fate, fulfilled the Oracle's prognostications by killing his father and marrying his mother. The truth is all that Oedipus sought, but he failed to see that he was incapable of changing his own destiny.
Oedipus was a tragic hero; he had social standing and he was the only one wise enough to solve the Sphinx's riddle. But, what is his tragic flaw? I pondered this question for a while and I am still not quite sure I have it right. In my opinion, his flaw is not killing his father and marrying his mother because he learned of his mistakes after the fact. I believe that his tragic flaw was tempting fate. He ran away from Polybus" home, in fear of killing him; unbeknownst to him that as an infant he was taken in by Polybus. .
My ultimate reaction to this story of Oedipus is that he is an inspiration that we all should be able to follow. He was willing to find out the truth, no matter what the consequences may have turned out to be; he then took full responsibility for his discovery, even though by no means were they done purposely. .
