Oedipus Rex Fatal Flaw

There are 6-7 different components that make up a classical tragedy, it consists of having a plot, good and or lofty character, recognition, tragic or fatal flaw/fall in a character, catharsis, and arousing pity, fear, and disgust in the audience, and sometimes reversal. Oedipus Rex fits the criteria of a classical tragedy in many ways, the main character having a fatal flaw, the play arousing pity and fear in the audience, and catharsis are all very prevalent in the play.

Having a tragic or fatal flaw/fall is a character, whom is usually the protagonist in the story, has a fatal flaw that leads them to their death, or the death of another. In the play Oedipus Rex, the protagonist Oedipus has two main fatal flaws, anger and ignorance. Oedipus’ anger is very prevalent throughout different parts

of the play, but his anger is most visible when Teiresias will not tell Oedipus what information he knows about who killed Laios. Teiresias is only doing this because he knows that Oedipus is not ready to hear the truth yet, he is also aware that Oedipus will find out soon enough because of the prophecy. When Teiresias will not tell what information he knows Oedipus becomes furious with him, he begins yelling and shouting at Teiresias demanding that Teiresias tells him what he knows, when Teiresias does not tell him and instead tells Oedipus to keep raging because it will not change his mind, Oedipus accuses Teiresias of killing Laios.

Teiresias is blind, but he is still able to “see” everything for what it really is, Teiresias knows that Oedipus cannot see

the truth because he is “blind” to it. This shows the other fatal flaw Oedipus has, ignorance, because Oedipus is ignorant to the fact that he killed his own father, and married his own mother. Oedipus cannot see the truth because he lets his ignorance get the best of him, making him ignorant to the fact that he slept with his mother, and he was the child in the mountains, these fatal flaws that Oedipus has are what leads him to stabbing his own eyes out and becoming a blind “seer”.
Another component of a classical tragedy that the play Oedipus Rex has is arousing pity, fear, and disgust in the audience.

Oedipus finds out that he married and had children with his own mother, Iocaste, this leaves both of them hysterical. Iocaste is has so many emotions running through her that she does not even know what to think, so she goes into her bedroom and kills herself, this arouses pity and fear in the audience because a character has just died. When Oedipus finds that Iocaste has killed herself, he takes the brooches off her clothes and uses them to stab his own eyes out, making himself go blind. This definitely arouses disgust in the audience because stabbing your own eyes out and making yourself go blind is pretty gruesome. Although it arouses pity, fear, and disgust, it is in these times that Oedipus is able to “see” the truth and realizes what he has

done.
One component of a classical tragedy that makes Oedipus Rex fit the criteria for a classical tragedy perfectly is catharsis. Catharsis is a cleansing or purification of the misama in the classical tragedy, Oedipus was told if he wanted to rid the town of the plague he would need to exile the person who killed Laios. Catharsis is prevalent in the play when Oedipus stabs his own eyes out, when he does this he finally accepts the truth of what has happened and he becomes a blind “seer” like Teiresias. Before Oedipus is able to “see” the truth, he was “blind” to the truth, meaning he could not get rid of the plague (miasma) that was covering the town. After he becomes blind and is able to “see” everything more clearly, he exiles himself from the town knowing it is what he has to do, this cleanses, and purifies, the town because the person who killed Laios has been exiled.
The play Oedipus Rex fits the definition of a classical tragedy because it meets the criteria by the main character having a fatal flaw, the play arousing pity and fear in the audience, and catharsis in the town. Oedipus having fatal flaws of anger and ignorance, Iocaste killing herself and Oedipus stabbing his own eyes out which arouses pity and fear in the audience, and the catharsis of the town all contribute to being able to identify the play Oedipus Rex as a classical tragedy.