Characteristics of the Tragic Hero in the Oedipus Trilogy

In a span of 39 years, a great thinker and dramatic writer by the name of Sophocles wrote his infamous Oedipus Trilogy. It consists of three plays surrounding the life of a man by the name of Oedipus and gives insight into a failing attempt to outsmart fate. The plays are called: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. Oedipus is the protagonist and tragic hero in Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, where he reveals his true character by his actions and feelings. By reading these plays, we learn that Oedipus causes his own downfall by his arrogance, hardheadedness, determination.
One of the most discernible characteristics in Oedipus is his arrogance and boastfulness. His arrogance first shows when he is angered by an old man in a chariot; he cannot control his temper when the man insults him, so he kills the man along with his attendants. This old man was is father, Laius, but Oedipus had no idea at the time. His boastfulness is the result of his smart answer in respo...