Oedipus Tragic Hero Essay

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A tragic hero, a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his or her own destruction. Many tragic heroes generate overly tragic stories because they become instruments of suffering for others. In Sophocles Oedipus the King our tragic hero is Oedipus as the reader watches the irony unfold around Oedipus because they know the true outcome of the play but Oedipus is oblivious to all events to come. Northrop Frye examines the many faults in Oedipus’ disposition, as it appears in the beginning of the play oedipus displays kinglike qualities putting the need of his people before his own, making his top priority the discovery of king Laius murder but it is this exact determination that leads to his demise.

The first tragic quality Oedipus encompasses is negligence, he believes there is no possible way the prophecies predicted for him or repeated to him by Tiresias could be true. a tragic downfall was given to him from …show more content…
It is theorized by Sigmund Freud Oedipus’ own actions "merely shows us the fulfillment of our own childhood wishes". One may believe people are meant to have their own tragic downfall since according to Freud they are truly meant to demolish their own lives just has Oedipus had. Freud views the play of Oedipus Rex as an inevitable scenario for all, although it was clearly a predestined situation for Oedipus Freud doesn’t establish how these actions affect other people. It is easy to see how a tragic hero creates such mayhem around themselves, they are filled with so much ignorance and pride they are unable to witness the harm they create. Oedipus creates a tragic scene to those around him, his actions force his wife to commit suicide, leaves his daughters to never be married, and his kingdom in a wreck this reveals just how one tragic figure creates a tragic story

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