Oedipus hamartia:
- Pride
- His ultimate prideful mistake was that he thought he could run away from his fate. This, ironically, lead him to the fulfillment of the prophecy. If he had not been so prideful and left Corinth he would never had encountered his father at the crossroads.
- Throughout the play Oedipus is constantly referring to when he outsmarted the sphinx that was plaguing Thebes.
- Whenever he refers to his triumph over the sphinx he say as if it is proof that he can never be wrong and that he is wise. Such as when he is accusing Creon of treachery and when Teiresias foretells of his downfall.
- A Quick Temper
- His raging temper is shown throughout the play directed at anyone that remotely offends him.
- His temper is what lead to the murder of his father. Although this wouldn't have been as violent to the Greek audiences as it does to us now, it still is a valid point. If he had instead moved out of the road for the men he would not have been whipped and would not have killed them all.
- His anger is also shown when he quickly condemns and curses the man who killed King Laius.
- When Teiresias speaks, or does not speak, Oedipus' quick temper and haste to accuse Creon both lead to the unwillingness of the people to help him when he does fall.
I definitely agree with you about him having a big temper. If he could have learned to keep it in control a lot of things would have gone smoother. He wouldn't have hurt/damaged some of his relationships that he had with others.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% that pride was Oedipus' downfall. He refused to see what was unfolding around him, and his quick temper just made things worse. If he would have listened to the people that cared about him, who knows what would have happened. But his pride and temper destroyed him. Well done.
ReplyDelete