Hamartia in Oedipus the King :: Greek Tragedy Tragedies Oedipus Essays

Hamartia in Oedipus the King According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is impeded by a decided characteristic or character trait which bakshiss to his ultimate demise. This trait is known as hamartia, or the tragic flaw. This characteristic is said to not only lead to the heros demise but may also enable the reader to sympathize with the character. So it follows that in Oedipus the King, a Greek t hysteriady, the tragic hero Oedipus should have or so sort of flaw. However, after close testing of the text, no distinguishable flaw is revealed. Although Oedipus appears to have many flaws on the surface, namely his poor temperament, carelessness, curiosity and pride, close examination of the text reveals that he has many seemingly flawed characteristics that are not only justifiable but in some cases to be expected. One superpower expect that a quick and even withdrawous temper would be considered a serious impediment to Oedipus. However, he is quite justified in his rage against Cre on and Tiresias, and he has good reasons to suspect them of plotting against him. From the view point of Oedipus, he has just discovered that the antecedent king Laius was savagely murdered along with the members of his entourage. Furthermore the murder has yet to be solved many years later, and the gods have placed a plague on his city until the murderer(s) is apprehended and punished. After learning of the demolition of Laius, Oedipus concludes that the murderer is a thief, so daring, so wild, hed kill a king? Its impossible, unless conspirators paid him off in Thebes (140-142). Creon concurs that this thought had also crossed his mind. So with this evidence, it is open to see why Oedipus is distrustful of his own peers. Maybe the actual killing of Laius and his four servants is an extreme display of Oedipus murderous temperament. While it may seem a bit extreme in hindsight, at the time of the incident his actions are totally justifiable. Oedipus describes the incident as thus as he wasmaking his bureau toward this triple crossroad he began to see a herald, then a brace of colts drawing a wagon, and mounted on the bench . . . a man, just as Jocasta described Laius, coming face-to-face, and the one in the lead and the old man himself was about to thrust him off the road-brute force - and the one shouldering him aside, the driver, he struck him in impatience - and the old man, watching Oedipus coming up along his wheels - he brings down his prod, two prongs straight at his head(884-893).