Oedipus As A Tragic Hero

When it comes to the history of drama Sophocles’ Oedipus is the king of all tragic heroes. From killing his own father and marring his own mother Oedipus’s tragic downfall leaves the reader emotionally scarred for life. Yet he still holds on to his morality and prevails past it all. Famous Greek philosopher Aristotle defines what a tragic hero is and Oedipus fits it perfectly. Oedipus is a true embodiment of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through his ability to preserve his virtue and wisdom, despite his flaws and predicament.
Aristotle defines a tragic hero as "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake." When Aristotle states “a great man” the hero is neither a villain nor a perfect citizen but is basically good and decent in his nature. The mistake that is mention is some moral blindness or error that is his/her downfall. Also not that the God’s are also in some sense responsible for this hero’s mistake and inevitability his down fall. Also when it comes to a tragic hero Aristotle states that three main things happen to draw attachment of the audience to the
Aristotle’s definitions of tragic hero also states that all tragic heroes have “hamartia” which translates to “mistake or error” (Oedipus). This is not shown in the characters for if it was the audience would not become emotionally attached to them. Also the hero’s flaw must result from something that is also a part of their virtue, usually lack of knowledge. In this case Oedipus fits perfectly because his lack of knowledge of his birth parents. This really impacts the audience for the fact that no action could fix his hamartia. Since nothing can be done the audience fears for Oedipus because no matter what his fate cannot be changed