How Is Oedipus Arrogant

In Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles and translated by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald, Oedipus was a tyrannos who tried to save the city of Thebes from a long lasting plague. Unfortunately, his short temper and hubris led to his downfall while he tried to do so. He was too arrogant and self-centered to even bother to recognize the several ignorant mistakes he made. Before his fall, Oedipus experienced and created chaos at different points throughout the story, although he did restore order in the end.

The first form of chaos Oedipus created, began when the Sphinx controlled the city of Thebes. Not even the smartest men in Thebes could answer its riddle. As a result, King Laius went to Delphi as an attempt to find help. Oedipus, not knowing that this was the King Of Thebes and his very own father, killed Laius and those accompanying him. He did this simply because they forced him off of the road. Oedipus responded to Jocasta’s statement during their conversation about the death of Laius:

The groom leading the horses

Forced me off the road at his lord’s command;

But as this charioteer lurched over towards me

I struck him in my rage. The old man saw me

And brought his double goad down upon my head

As I came abreast.

He was paid back, and more!

Swinging my club in this right hand I knocked him

Out of his car,

and he rolled on the ground.
I killed him.
I killed them all. (764-72)
This hamartia is what caused the plague from the god Apollo, and ultimately the pandemonium and mayhem of Thebes.
While Thebes was in its confused and hectic state, Teiresias came at the call of Oedipus and Creon. Oedipus desperately wanted to know what the clairvoyant Teiresias knew. However, when things were not going his way as quickly as he wanted them to, Oedipus’s short temper turned him impolite and disrespectful when he replied to one of Teiresias’s comments, “There is: / but not for you, not for you, / you sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man!” (354-56). He then started to raise his voice and accused Creon of trying to kill him in order to gain his throne. Oedipus was angry, confused, and clearly not fully aware of his irrational actions. He was being childish and created more havoc and problems than there needed to be. Oedipus was ruining his friendship with Creon, disrespecting the admired Teiresias, and damaging his credibility all while he demonstrated his hubris.
Another way Oedipus created even more chaos was when he sent for the shepherd that supposedly witnessed King Laius’s death. This eyewitness confirmed that it was indeed Oedipus who killed the King and slept with Queen Jocasta, as Oedipus said:
Ah God!
It was true!
All the prophecies!
--Now
O light, may I look on you for the last time!
I, Oedipus,
Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage
Damned,
Damned in the blood he shed with his own hand! (1116-24)
Oedipus’s catharsis showed that he was aware of his own bad doings.

By completing his prophecy, Oedipus caused Jocasta to kill herself, which led to absolute chaos, since no one had expected this type of tragedy. Due to Jocasta’s death, Oedipus took the brooches from the gown she perished in and repeatedly stabbed himself in the eyes. He felt there was nothing beautiful left to see in the world, he did not want to see his parents in the afterlife, and he wanted to suffer for his mistakes. This was yet another action of Oedipus’s that created even more disorder for Thebes to handle because now their Queen was dead and their King

hurt.
Once Oedipus stabbed his eyes hard enough to blind himself, he restored order in his kingdom. He did that by pleading to Creon to take him away from the city so that he could suffer alone while hurting no one else. He also wanted Creon to forgive him and to take care of his two daughters that now had to live forever associated with their father’s careless actions. In the end, one can realize that it was Oedipus’s own ignorance that caused the chaos, which led to the fulfillment of his prophecy.