Arrogance In Oedipus The King

When pride goes unchecked it leads to arrogance. When arrogance goes unchecked it leads to problems. In the case of Oedipus it caused a lot of problems. Oedipus is the main character in Sophocles story Oedipus the King. In this story Oedipus struggles with his pride and arrogance and it ultimately leads to his downfall without him realizing it.

The first time that we see Oedipus’ pride is when he thinks that he can find Laius killer because he was the one who saved the city from the sphinx. “You saved us from the sphinx” (Sophocles 675). The people in the city point this out to please him before they place their requests. When he finds out that he has to avenge the death of King Laius he responds, “Once again I must bring the darkness into

When Teiresias tells him that he is the one who killed Lauis he quickly responds angry at Teiresias. “Hold your slanderous tongue. You taunt me and think because you are a prophet you will go scot-free” (Sophocles 684). Despite the fact that Oedipus told Teiresias to tell them everything he knows, Oedipus still gets angry and responds quickly when Teiresias challenges his dignity and pride. Teiresias then responds “I would not have come if you had not ordered it,” (Sophocles 686). Oedipus then has a fit and says that he regrets ever calling Teiresias for help and that he wouldn’t do it again. “Oedipus is said to suffer from a character flaw known as hubris, or pride, and his cruel treatment of Creon and Teiresias in the aforementioned situations evidences this trait. He insists on hearing the truth again, and again.” (Galens and Spampinato). Oedipus does not want to here the truth because it hurts his pride. Teiresias hurt Oedipus’s pride and he did not like that.

Throughout the story Oedipus’ pride is challenged. This shows that Oedipus is prideful and arrogant. He thinks that his past experiences are better than everybody else's. He thinks that he is above the gods and their prophecies. In the end this leads to Oedipus’ pride leading him to fulfill the prophecy he was trying to