Oedipus the King

How Fate and Oedipus’s own essential nature combine to make him a tragic hero? “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles is a very good play which talks about a guy who was fated to kill his father and married his mother. Aristotle defines “tragic hero as a person of great stature and virtue who becomes aware of a mortal defect within himself.” This defect leads to great tragedy. Oedipus’s own essential nature makes him a tragic hero because his ignorance (lack of knowledge) led him to his own destruction. Also Fate plays an important role in make Oedipus a tragic hero because fate is a calamitous or unfavorable outcome or result; death; destruction, or downfall. (www.thefreedictionary.com) Fate at Oedipus the King plays an important role because it was the force that causes all the events to happen. Fate makes Oedipus a tragic hero. Also, Oedipus’s own essential nature (ignorance, arrogance, pride, virtues, persistency, and efficacy) makes him a tragic hero because of his nature Oedipus believes himself as equal or superior to a God. (Hubris) Although when he is an arrogant man he has a lot of virtues which make him a good King. His persistency and efficacy as a leader was part of his nature and because of these he wants to know who kill the King Laius. He wanted to know that because when he knows who murderer the former king, he can exile him of Thebes and also he could put an end to the plague.
At the beginning of the play Apollo’s oracle at Delphi predestined King Laius future. It was that, he was fated to be murdered by his own son, and also his son was fated to marry his mother and have sons.(631) So when his first son (Oedipus) born Laius and Jocasta decided to kill him trying to avoid the oracles prophecies. He sends a shepherd to kill his son Oedipus, but the kindly shepherd decided not to kill the boy and he gave the baby boy to another shepherd who was a shepherd that works to the King of Corinth. Then, the shepherd decided to give the baby boy to the