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Melanie Babi
Ms. Tynia Thomassie
Advanced Placement Literature P6
16 October 2012
The Transition from Acclaim to Ruin; Virtue to Vice
If vice and virtue are contradictory qualities, then how can both be present in the same
great man? Sophocles takes these two opposite elements and makes them paradoxical factors in
his Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex. The protagonist in the play, Oedipus, has a massive fall from
grace and comes crashing down to a tragic end. A loved and supported leader, Oedipus is at first
strong and compassionate, his determination to care for the people of his community drives him
to his great tumble downward, these honorable characteristics diverge into immense obstacles for
himself and his community. With this idea of pharmakos as explained in Aristotle’s Poetics,
Sophocles presents Oedipus as a tragic hero. The writer uses the character of Oedipus to advance
the underlying meaning of the play by exemplifying the Greek proverb which states that
anything in excess can cause one’s asset to become his flaw, inevitable to destroy.
At the start of the play, the city of Thebes is in shambles. The townspeople beg for help
from their highest authority, Oedipus. He is the king; having saved the city from ruin once
before, he is the only person with the ability to save them from their current adversity. His
aristocracy is realized as he stands before the palace at Thebes stating “I have myself come
hither, Oedipus, known far and wide by name” (1). Both he and his people have faith that he will
be able to conquer the curse that harms them. Oedipus’ redeeming quality is that he is a man of
his word. He promises to find the bad seed among the people of the city and charges
determinedly down that path to discovery. He preaches “On these accounts I, as my own father,
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will fight this fight and follow out every clue” (10), assuring them that he will bring the truth of
Laius’ murder to light by any means necessary. This determination, borne out of sincerity,
ironically aids in bringing him to his own ruin.
Out of Oedipus’ resolve to cure the city, his obsession with finding out the truth comes to
head. His need and drive to help the people slowly develops into a burden upon himself as he
becomes unable to see past getting what he wants. Oedipus does not think of the consequences
that could result from his findings, only the fact that they have to be found. Despite any warnings
that may come his way about the dreadful path of his fixation, he presses on. Though Tiresias
cautions him to leave matters as they are, Oedipus’ increased persistence will not allow for that.
He completely ignores everything he thinks will not help him acquire Laius’ murderer, even
when Tiresias states “You are Laius’ murderer – he whom you seek” (14). Tiresias angrily sets
the truth in front of Oedipus as asked; however Oedipus’s stubbornness suppresses him from
understanding the truth of Tiresias’ words. All the while Oedipus desperately works to know the
truth, he is blocking his own path to it.
Coupled with obsession, Oedipus shows another character trait that turns into a flaw over
the course of the play. Being the King of Thebes, Oedipus feels a sense of superiority over
everybody else. This prideful attitude that he expels develops into an over confidence that
eventually brings him down. Although Tiresias attempts to teach Oedipus that seeing goes
beyond the physical, Oedipus still condemns him for his blindness. He boasts on his own past
achievement of slaying the Sphinx, telling of how no one conquered her “til I came, The
unlettered Oedipus, and ended her,” (15). This display of hubris only hinders him from coming
closer to finding the murderer. Just as Oedipus shows an excess in determination, he shows an
excess in pride, and as the chorus rightly states “Pride is the germ of kings” (31). By escalating
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the traits of the protagonist, Sophocles exemplifies that pride, and any quality that tips over the
golden mean, will eventually bring one to ruin. Though Oedipus has well intentions, he is not
able to carry them out properly. His immoderation in everything shows to be his harmartia, the
one flaw that brings him to a tragic ending.
From the beginning of the play, it is Oedipus’ compassion and concern for the
community that leads him down his destructive path. It makes him become paranoid of all
people, which is why he places blame on both Tiresias and Creon, accusing the latter “Did you
persuade me that I ought to send to fetch that canting soothsayer or no? (20). His care for the city
of Thebes blinds him to all other things. Sophocles uses the character to Oedipus to embody the
essence of the play, which is that knowing is not an equivalent of seeing. Oedipus believes he
has knowledge because he has the ability to see, because he cares for his people and believes he
is doing the best for them. When he is arguing with Tiresias, the latter states, “I say – you have
your sight, and do not see what evils are about you, nor with whom, nor in what home you are
dwelling” (15), expressing that it takes more than one’s sight to gain the knowledge of
themselves and those around him. However, Oedipus does not understand this concept and keeps
on pushing to find the truth. In the end, his immense concern and lack of understanding leads
Oedipus to martyrdom. He cares for the community so much that he is blinded and when the
truth he has been seeking is revealed to him, it is not what he expected and the realization
destroys him, “Woe! woe! It is all plain, indeed! O Light, this be the last time I shall gaze on
thee” (42). An honest man from beginning to end, Oedipus keeps his promise to finish
whomever it is that killed Laius. Realizing that it was himself, Oedipus “smote[s] the nerves of
his own eyeballs” (45); then he excommunicates himself from the city. When at first Oedipus has
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his sight and is still theoretically blind, in the end it is the opposite; he literally bling but finally
sees the truth.
What once were redeeming qualities become catastrophic failings for Oedipus. As stated
in Aristotle’s Poetics, this idea of pharmakos, that Oedipus is both the “poison and the cure” of
his society, is what brings the protagonist to his end. Oedipus excesses in his determination,
pride, concern and compassion, way over the golden mean. This hamartia breaks Oedipus’ string
of fortune and sends him tumbling down to his tragic finish. As Oedipus finally comes to light on
the subject of Laius’ killer, the reader or the audience goes through a purging. Having seen what
the Oedipus falls to there is the catharsis; the reader feels a sense of pity for Oedipus and relief
that their life is unlike his own. Sophocles uses these depictions of a protagonist by Aristotle’s
Poetics to exemplify Oedipus as the tragic hero in the play. Oedipus’ character illustrates that too
much of anything is never good and that a virtue can turn into a vice whenever that line is
crossed.
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Works Cited
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. SH. Butcher. The Internet Classics Archive. Ed. Daniel Stevenson.
Web Atomics. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Trans. George Young. Ed Stanley Appellbaum. Dover Thrift Edition.
New York: Dover 1991. Sophocles. Oedipus Tyrannus. The Dramas of Sophocles
Rendered in English Verse Dramatic & Lyric by by Sir George Young. Trans. George
Young. 2nd ed. London. JM Dent & Sons, 1906. Print.
Thomassie, Tynia. “The Elements of Greek Tragedy”. Advanced Placement Literature. West
Orange High School, West Orange. 3 Oct. 2011. Class Presentation.