-Oedipus's Hamartia-

Hamartia: to miss the mark; tragic flaw

Oedipus, in Oedipus Rex, has one of the greatest hamartias in literature, I think. To begin with, he walks with a limp and it says it in his name; the word Oedipus literally translates to “swollen foot” in Greek. But still, that’s not a downfall yet, some might call his limp his mark for greatness, or better yet for tragedy, but not a downfall.

Some basic background information; King Laius, Oedipus’s biological father, goes to the oracle and finds out that if he gets a son for his first child, the son will end up killing him. Jocasta, the wife of Laius, of course births a son. Not wanting to be killed by his own son, he gives up the baby boy to a shepherd who names him Oedipus. The shepherd gives the boy to the king and queen of Corinth. Soon enough, Oedipus finds out he is adopted and goes to the same oracle who tells him he will kill his own father but does not reveal his real parents. Oedipus, not wanting to kill who he believes is his father, flees to Thebes. On his way, he encounters men on the road and they argue, he kills the men and continues, not knowing he just killed his biological father. He arrives at Thebes after solving Sphinx’s riddle and marries a lady he met in the market, who turns out to be the former queen and his biological mother. They have four children and he finds out that he married his own mother and gouges his eyes out and flees. Jocasta kills herself in humiliation.

Through all of this though, we have to remember Oedipus is a good hearted king, an honorable, honest, loyal and generally good, man. With that said, he is far from perfect. Oedipus is hot-tempered, hasty in his judgment, proud of his intelligence, and random in his decisions. As for temper, Oedipus’s character is infamous for his hot tempered soul. The death of his father, the king, could have been completely avoided if not for his anger problem. As for his judgment, he is quick to assume the worst in people. For example, when the oracle kept refusing to reveal any more information about his parents, and jumped to conclusions that people were trying to kill him.  He gets a sense of strong pride after solving the Sphinx’s riddle which leads him into think he could marry any woman in town, even one who is much older than he is like his own mother.

                Oedipus’s hamartia is actually quite clear, his downfall begins as soon as he leaves the oracle and travels to Thebes. In efforts to avoid fulfilling the oracle’s visions, he does exactly that, he fulfills it. It’s interesting to see the similarities between Oedipus and Macbeth. Both go to a third party to hear of their fates; Macbeth with the three witches, Oedipus with the oracle. Both try to change their fates; Macbeth peruses his destiny, insuring that he becomes king; Oedipus tries to avoid the oracle’s visions. Both end up in a tragedy; Macbeth dies and Oedipus blind. Yet if they had both simply let their fates continued without any disturbance, then both would have been prosperous. These characters’ need to control their fate leads to their downfall.