Hubris In Oedipus Rex

Most people in the 21st century usually do not imagine a hero as one who goes around killing his father, marrying his mother, and fathering his siblings, but all those contradictory notions made sense to the Greeks watching Oedipus Rex. Oedipus, the titular character of Sophocles’ infamous play, belongs with the typical tragic hero category, a grouping of noble, courageous heroes who deserves respect regardless of a fatal weakness in their character. As for Oedipus himself, his extreme pride, known as hubris to the Greeks, is the singular weakness that foreshadows his fall from the graceful dignity of a king into the tragic shame of an exile. Despite his noble intentions for not just his people, but also for his parents and children, Oedipus’

Oedipus’ noble character is clearly seen and portrayed throughout the play as an obvious constituent to the character of the tragic hero. His gracious character is clearly promulgated among the people since the exposition of the play, as seen when the priest of the city calls out for the “noblest of men [to] restore life to … [the] city” (Prologue, Lines 48-49). Oedipus’ love for his people is unmatched: not only has he rescued the people of Thebes from the Sphinx, he unashamedly weeps in sorrow for his people since the discovery of the curse from the gods that has been set upon the city. Likewise, Oedipus cares for his adoptive parents so nobly that he flees from his own home in fear of defiling his parents’ honor and reputation; in obvious contrast, when Oedipus finally realizes that his own wife, Jocasta, is in reality

Oedipus’ hurt pride leads to murderous proportions when Laios attacked Oedipus for holding up the road where “there were three highways” (Ode 1, Scene 2, Line 276). With just a blow to his head as his justification for murder, Oedipus slays Laios and all his men out of murderous rage in return for his wounded pride. Furthermore, he arrogantly attempts to assert his authority over the feared prophet Teiresias, calling him a “sightless, witless, senseless, man old man” and a “child of endless night” after Teiresias tries in vain to keep silent about the truth of Oedipus’ ill-fated birth (Parados, Scene 1, Line 153-156). Oedipus’ arrogance towards Teiresias increases to the point where he charges Creon guilty of betrayal, irrationally contributing his unfounded suspicions to all the “wealth, power, craft of statesmanship … , kingly position” Oedipus believes nobody could deny being envious from his high position of kingship (Parodos, Scene 1, Line 163-164) However, the greatest sign of the classical Greek arrogant seen within Oedipus’ character is the challenging of the gods. Despite the reoccurring prophecy of how Oedipus would “kill his own father” and marry his mother as determined by the gods, Oedipus thought such an unpleasant sort of divine destiny was not suitable to his tastes and decided to challenge the gods in his numerous actions to ensure the