Oedipus' Pridefull Fall

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Hubris shows up many times in history. Various figures show excessive pride and arrogance at time when it was very inappropriate, sometimes for personal gain and satisfaction. Too much pride may damage one’s reputation In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus displays pride, which causes his ultimate downfall at the end of the story. He kills an old man and his followers on the highway, is very proud when he accepts the throne of Thebes, and continues to search for the murderer of his father. First, Oedipus kills an old man and his followers on the highway. Oedipus and the old man could not decide who would be the first to cross the road, so in self-defense, Oedipus killed the old man and all the followers to ensure that he would be the first to cross the road. Oedipus shows much pride in this situation since he decided to murder the old man’s followers instead of just the old man. It says in the play, “Strange, that a highwayman should be so daring / Unless some faction here bribed him to do it” (127-128). Oedipus shows much hubris, and he does something that was extremely horri...

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