Answer:
in explanation
Explanation:
In terms of the Aristotelian theory of tragedy, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is not perfect, but has tragic flaws. Aristotle points out that Oedipus' tragic flaw is excessive pride (hubris) and self-righteousness. He also points out certain characteristics that determine as tragic hero. Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who commits an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions. The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in judgment, his tragic flaw, and become an example to the audience of what happens when great men fall from their high social or political position.
Oedipus is a great and good king. The opening scene shows Oedipus in his magnificence, as a king who is so concerned about the welfare of his people. He addresses them as "my children" as behooved of the good kings of those times. He is a great man with respectable moral value and personality. As a man, he is dedicated to fighting and avoiding evil. His quest for truth is in fact the cause of downfall, and that is one of the most tragic things. As a king, he is an epitome itself. He loves his people. He gives his best to everything he does as a person and as a king. He is so worried by the problem of plague that he hasn't been sleeping: indeed, he says that he is suffering for the whole city alone. He has been walking restlessly instead of properly sleeping. He says that he will not talk to people through messengers and will not send messengers to them; he comes to them himself. He is a king of excellence, command and esteem. The priest glorifies the king as a man "Surest in mortal ways and wisest in the ways of god". He is a man who has become the king as much through the intelligence as through his power. It is he who solved the Sphinx's riddle and saved all citizens from the monster. He has always become the ultimate and almost the only rescue and hope at the time of misfortune.
Oedipus is also a morally good personality, to a great extent. It is so good of him to try to avoid the unbearable fate that he hears of we see that Oedipus is not only too confident in his own analysis and understanding of reality, he is also always afraid of doing wrong, He is adamant in his quest for the truth and the welfare of the people. He surrenders to the power of fate at the end. He is of respectful towards the oracles, in the sense that he has been afraid of what they have told him, and he does respect Teiresias before he is insulted by the apparently unjust and false charges against him.
But as a tragic character, Oedipus has his typical tragic flaw or "hamartia". Obviously pride is his hamartia. He is too proud and arrogant, and presumes too much about his own understanding and his powers to control his life. But he can't control reality, chances, fate and time. He has a bad temper and wrong judgment: the error of a tragic character is basically the "error of judgment" according to Aristotle. Oedipus wrongly judges his situation. It may be debatable as to whether the murder of a life-threatening stranger and the marriage of a consort are crimes. But, due to his presumption about his abilities, he has disobeyed the gods and his destiny. In his confidence upon what he knows and can do, he escapes from the professed evil fate, he kills a man old enough to be his father, and he marries a woman old enough to be his mother, without even doubting his wits.
