Oedipus, The Tragic Hero

Born into a royal family, Oedipus was one of the bearers of a disastrous generational curse. He had no idea what he was born into, or what he would become. Poor Oedipus was put into to the world to serve as an example from the gods. Although Oedipus was said to be a victim of fate, he contributed to his own fate more than the gods. He was placed into the world to with a prophecy that he will kill his father and married his mother and conceive children with her, but that was just a prophecy not his destiny. Oedipus could have determined a new destiny for himself, but instead he did more things to make the prophecy true rather than false. The life of Oedipus was a great tragedy, not only for him but for his entire family. Although the gods may have set a prophecy for Oedipus future, Oedipus contribute mostly to his destiny.

Oedipus was a great man. He saved Thebes from the Sphinx. The Sphinx was a terrible creature who stood outside the gates of Thebes asking anyone who come to go through gates a riddle. If the riddle is unanswered or answered wrongly, the Sphinx would kill them. Oedipus saved the city of Thebes by solving the Sphinx riddle, which led to the Sphinx killing itself. Oedipus was a great hero to the city of Thebes. He was their great savior so they gave him their queen and kingdom. Oedipus downfall was very tragic and shocked a lot of people that such a great hero could fall so low.

When Oedipus was running away from Corinth to end the prophecy he killed four men. Killing is something not condone in the Greek society, especially not killing a king. “[H]earing you just now…makes my thoughts race back and forth….. I think I’ve just called down a dreadful curse upon myself – I simply didn’t know” (pg.1150- 1151). Oedip...

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...he people from a terrible creature and by doing this he won over a throne that was rightfully his. I think if anyone had save a city was given the opportunity to rule, they would not have turned the opportunity down. Oedipus did what he had to do and saved the city. He guided the city in the right direction for years, until the terrible plague came upon the city. Although Oedipus was the cause of the plague and committed a great crime, he still had love for everyone in the city and thought that he was doing what was best for the city. Oedipus downfall was very tragic. In my opinion Oedipus is a tragic hero and brought his down fall upon himself.

Works Cited

Charters, Ann, and Samuel Barclay. Charters. "Oedipus the King." Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. 1129-173. Print.