Fate-al Flaw. Sophocless Oedipus Rex and Shakespeares Othello are characters commonly referred to as tragic heroes.

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Hayek  

Angela Hayek

Mr. O’Brien

EN201

13 Oct 2011

Fate-al Flaw

        Aristotle describes a tragic hero as a noble character with a tragic flaw that ultimately ensures his own downfall.  This tragic flaw is usually something an audience can relate to, and may arouse feelings of pity and fear.  Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare’s Othello are characters commonly referred to as tragic heroes.  Both characters are noble men, but only one is truly a tragic hero.  Oedipus’s downfall is caused by Fate, not by some tragic flaw.  Othello is a true tragic hero, and his tragic flaw is jealousy, that “green-ey’d monster”, which ultimately destroys him (Shakespeare 1002).

Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex introduces King Oedipus as a concerned ruler trying to rid the city of its curse.  In order to lift the curse from the city, Oedipus must find the murderer of the late King Laios.  In the quest to find the murderer, horrible family secrets are revealed, and like an out-of-control train, there is no turning back.  From the beginning, Oedipus is doomed by Fate to carry out his part in the tragedy.

        After learning that Laios would be killed by their newborn child, Iokaste sent their baby away.  She gave the baby to a shepherd who was to hang him on a mountainside to die.  Iokaste was trying to outwit Fate by killing the baby, but Fate had other plans.  If Iokaste had kept the baby instead of sending him away to die, Oedipus would have grown up knowing his true parents.  Possibly, Fate could have been better tested if the truth was revealed sooner.  Because Iokaste did not keep the baby and the truth was not revealed to Oedipus until it was too late—Fate won.

        The shepherd who was charged with hanging Iokaste’s baby on the mountainside committed the act of hubris by overriding her decision to kill him.  The shepherd “pitied the baby” so he gave him to another shepherd (Sophocles 215); the first shepherd hoped the second shepherd would take him to live in a different country.  What would have happened if the shepherd had done what he was instructed to do?  One may never know the answer to this question.  The actions of the shepherd certainly prove that Fate cannot be outmaneuvered.  

        The second shepherd took Oedipus back to his country and gave him to his king and queen who had no children of their own.  The second shepherd never tried to test fate; he took an unwanted child and gave him to a couple who did want him.  It was only when the shepherd brought the news to Oedipus about the death of Polybus that Oedipus learned the truth of his birth.  Unknowingly, the helpful shepherd was destined to play a part in carrying out this tragedy.

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        Polybus and Merope seemed to be kind and loving parents to Oedipus; they took him in and raised him as their own.  When Oedipus was older, he heard rumors that he was not his father’s son.  He went to his parents and questioned them, but they assured him that the rumors were false.  Their lies about Oedipus’s true identity set Fate’s prophecy in motion.  Oedipus only left Corinth because an oracle told him he would have children with his mother and kill his father.  If Polybus and Merope had told Oedipus the truth, would he have still fled?  Fate would ...

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