sprevious husband, and his true father, King Laius death, he was blinded by his pride to theconcept that perhaps he was the murderer. Not knowing the truth, he cursed himself to an evildeath-in-life of misery. Of course at that time, Oedipus failed to realize his connections toJocasta and Laius, but recognition of the truth would bring him to his eventual suffrage. When theblind prophet Teiresias stated that Oedipus was the murderer of King Laius, Oedipus prideprevented him to believe. However, other events opened his eyes to the tragedy, which had takenplace. When his final realization came, and he recognized the truth of what he had done, Oedipusstabbed his eyes with broaches, a mere physical suffering compared to the torture of his soul. Hehad fulfilled the prophecy because of his own actions, which he had believed were beneficial-basedon highly respected attitudes of pride and determination. The story of Oedipus shows that pride, sometimes thought of as a positive characteristic, maylead to ones downfall if it is expressed as arrogance. Oedipus was proud e prophecy. A man has many defining characteristics - some positive and some negative. At times, apotentially positive characteristic may cause his eventual downfall. This concept can be directlyrelated to the story Oedipus Rex. Aristotle stated, the tragic hero falls into bad fortune becauseof some flaw in his character of the kind found in men of high reputation and good fortune such asOedipus. Essentially, he is telling us that Oedipus has a flaw that, under normal circumstances,would be a beneficial characteristic, but in his case, causes his demise. The defining characteristicsof pride and determination can be attributed to the downfall of Oedipus.Oedipus personality clearly reflects pride and determination throughout the play. When Oedipusheard the oracles prediction that he was to kill his father and marry his mother, he wasdetermined to prevent the prophecy. Therefor...
