Oedipus Rex

Essay: Oedipus Rex

Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus Rex is at heart about the relationship between free will and fate. In a traditional tragedy, the hero is a noble character who is destroyed because he possesses a fatal flaw. In Oedipus Rex, on the other hand, Oedipus is apparently destroyed by the gods or by fate, as he fulfills the horrible prophecy to murder his father and marry his mother. There does not seem to be a tragic flaw which brings about his downfall; his downfall is fated to happen from his birth. The dramatic irony of his quest for justice seems to doom him more than any character trait of his. To be a tragic hero, he has to have free will, and be able to triumph over his fate. Oedipus at first seems like he is not a tragic hero, but on closer analysis, he has both the noble qualities and the hamartia, or tragic flaw, of a traditional tragic hero. Oedipus becomes a tragic hero by accepting responsibility for his horrific fate.
His clearest heroic quali...