Sophocles said that a man should never consider himself fortunate unless he can look back on his life and remember that life without pain. For Oedipus Rex, looking back is impossible to do without pain, a pain that stems from his prideful life. Oedipus is aware that he alone is responsible for his actions. He freely chooses to pursue and eventually accept his own life's destruction. Although fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his undying quest for the truth ruin him.Oedipus’ pride, drawn from his own heroic qualities, is one factor of his ruining. A hero characteristically prizes above all else his honor and the excellence of his life. When his honor is at stake, all other considerations become irrelevant. Oedipus was certainly a hero who was exceptionally intelligent and, one can argue as a result of his single-handed killing of four men, physically powerful. He obviously knew his heroic status when he greeted the needful citizens of Thebes before the palace doors saying, “Here I am myself-/ you all know me, the world knows my fame:/ I am Oedipus.”(7). Oedipus is clearly a man of hubris; he is overconfident in his powers and irreverent to the gods. Oedipus also displays this uncompromising attitude in his devotion to Thebes.Oedipus' loyalty to Thebes is another factor that led to the tragic figure's ruin. Aristotle explains that a tragic character is just and good, but fatal error, pride(possibly hubris), or frailty brings about his misfortune. Oedipus fits this description perfectly. Oedipus could easily have left the city of Thebes and let the plague take its course he “would be blind to misery/ not to pity [his] people kneeling at his feet”(14). When Apollo's word comes back in the hand of Creon, Oedipus could leave the murder of Laius uninvestigated as it had been for so long, but “rising in his pride, he protes...
