Oedipus Tragic Hero Essay

In literature, the tragic hero is the character that makes a judgement error which eventually leads to their own tragic downfall. The tragic hero is the one that has everything to lose if they make one little mistake. Every tragic hero has a tragic flaw, which is the trait the hero possesses that leads them down their dreadful path. Sometimes, however, a character’s downfall is not due to the decisions they make, but because of the unfortunate way events happen to play out. In the story Oedipus the King, Oedipus is definitely the tragic hero because he commits a certain action that ultimately destroys him. His fate leads to destruction due to his pride as the tragic flaw. Oedipus’s tragic flaw is indeed his pride because he refuses to accept his own fate. In the story, Oedipus becomes king after successfully solving the Sphinx’s riddle and saving the people of Thebes. As a result, the people of Thebes consider Oedipus a hero for his actions. Oedipus soon marries Jocasta, whose husband, Laius, has recently been murdered. Oedipus promises to find Laius’s murderer, which turns out to be himself the whole time. Oedipus learns that Laius and Jocasta’s child was sent away to die because

In fact, Oedipus’s tragic flaw in particular exists all throughout our world today. For instance, there is always a time when a group of people may accuse another person of doing something wrong. That person being accused will do whatever it takes to defend himself and prove his innocence because he/she has too much pride to just forget about it. Also, the crimes committed by Oedipus are still carried out by people today. All throughout the world, someone is currently killing their own father or any other family member for that matter because of the evil instilled upon them. Not to mention that incest is still considered disgusting and frowned upon by the rest of