Oedipus The King

When God created the human race He gave them the right of free will, a free will to choose the fate of their lives. One could choose to obey God's Word and live a life of joy, peace, and contentment, or one could choose to be prideful showing no reverence to the God that created him/her resulting in a life of pain, heartache, and suffering. The events in the play, Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles portrays how life ends up for those who are bad-tempered, prideful, arrogant; showing no reverence to God. Therefore the flaw of character (not fate), is responsible for the tragedy that occurs in Oedipus the King.

Sophocles wanted his Greek audience to relate to Oedipus. He wanted to instill some type of flaws in the character. This made Oedipus more realistic and relevant to the audience, creating a sense of fear that, "it could happen to them." Oedipus' pride, ignorance, disbelief in the gods, and an unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. The chorus warns the audience of one's need to have reverence for the gods and the dangers of pride. "But if any man comes striding, high and mighty in all he says and does, no fear of justice, no reverence for the temples of the gods- let a rough doom tear him down repay his pride, breakneck, ruinous pride! If he cannot restrain himself from outrage - mad, laying hands on holy things untouchable! Can such a man so desperate, still boast he can save his life from the flashing bolts of god?" ( pg 1323; lines 972-982)

Oedipus' confidence in his own intellect sometimes becomes arrogance, even to the point suggesting he is equal to the gods. Due to such confidence, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. Instead of being patient and waiting for the plague to end, he chose to take matters into his own hands, attempting to fix the problem himself, later sending Creon to Delphi. When he learned of Apollo's prophecy, he could