ra or Medea." (129). Leonte's rage is the cause of the actions throughout the course of events in the play, and can be considered his tragic flaw. Much like the tragic heros of Oedipus, Agamemnon, or even Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost, Leontes too, will suffer as a result of a flaw. Leontes deliberately defies the Oracle in a fit of rage and dismay. He speaks: "There is no truth at all i' th' oracle. The sessions shall proceed. This is mere falsehood."(3.2.152-153.) Much like Oedipus in Sophocles' tragedy, Leontes cannot escape the prophecy of the Oracle. In the end, Leontes makes an effort to repent, but his tragic flaw has already caused him to suffer great losses: Apollo, pardon my great profaneness ‘gainst thine oracle. I'll reconcile me to Polixenes, New woo my queen, recall the good Camillo, Whom I proclaim a man of truth, of mercy; For, being transported by my jealousies To bloody thoughts and to revenge,...(3.2.170-178.) Martz explains the chronologically parallel sequence of action by Leontes: "Blasphemy against the gods has been preceded by crime against a guest, the attempt to kill Polixenes, and this has been followed by crimes against a family, the attempts to kill his wife and daughter."(126.) As all deviance from piety results in punishment, so must the actions of Leontes. "The death of Mamillius becomes the punishment for blasphemy."(126.) Another important aspect in The Winter's Tale is the character of the Shepherd. Similarly to the myths of Hercules and the tragedy of Oedipus, Perdita is taken in by a stranger and raised in a lower social ordered family. Oedipus later discovered that he is nobility, while Hercules discovered his semi-godlike heredity, Perdita too, is of nobler birth than those that raised her. The Shepherd subtly hints toward a pagan tradition in his speech during the festivities in act 4. He speaks: "Where no priest shovels in dust."(4.4.540.) Much like the efforts of Antigone to give her out...
