Greek heroes were often thought of as being innocent of the events that trouble them. However, pride, or hubris, was something that Oedipus was constantly trailed with. Oedipus" tragic flaw was pride, which proved to be a never-ending cause of trouble for him. Oedipus Rex gave several examples of Oedipus" hubris, how he paid for it, and directly contrasted a Biblical Worldview.
Abounding in hubris, Oedipus Rex's main character was unmistakably a bad ruler. First off. The prologue wasn't started, as usual, by the chorus, but instead was begun by Oedipus himself. In line eight he even announced himself as "The world renown and glorious Oedipus." What could a man have so much pride about? Line 397 explains that his pride was started when he solved the sphynx's riddle. " Pride breeds the tyrant," as quoted from line 872, tells of the chorus" spite towards pride.
All good things eventually came to an end in Oedipus" life. Ironically he turned out to be the murderer of his father and the son of his wife. Filled with grief, Jocasta committed suicide. When he found his dead wife, Oedipus gauged his eyes out with the golden brooch pins, because he did not want to see anything else that was bad happen. However, in the end Oedipus was not sorry for the thing he had done, but only for the things which he had no control over.
Obviously, Oedipus" Greek philosophy is in direct contrast with a Christian Worldview. II Chronicles 26:16 tells of a king who's pride lead to his downfall. Philippians 2:3 tell us to " Do nothing out of self ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than you." Lastly, I Peter 5:5 tells Christian that, " God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." All three verses present ideas that were against Greek philosophy.
It, therefore, became obvious that the tragedy in this Greek drama was caused by pride. However, this nemesis, or truth seen too late, was Oedipus" source of grief.
