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Sophocles 'Oedipus' Hamartia

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Aristotle writes that the tragic hero's downfall is caused by his hamartia. Oedipus' Hamartia is anger since that it was brings him to his downfall. The murder of King Lauis, the biological father of Oedipus, is the starting moment when his life begins to fall apart and the prophecy comes true. Oedipus killed his father out of audacious anger on impulse and if he was not angry in the first place, then he never would have killed Lauis proving it was anger that started his downfall making anger his hamartia. Therefore, this is an indicating factor that he is the ideal tragic hero. Aristotle also writes in The Poetics that while the tragic hero is a noble and good man with the right intentions, he has one big flaw he constantly battles. Oedipus
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Through such characterization, Sophocles heightens the emotions in the play by demonstrating how these traits contribute to the catastrophic conclusion. Sophocles deliberately depicts Oedipus as a seemingly infallible yet prideful ruler in order to augment the subsequent devastation Oedipus causes, thus realizing the vision of an Aristotelian tragedy. Aristotle identifies nobleness in character as a characteristic of a tragic hero. Oedipus personifies this criterion; he is revered as one of the most adept rulers in all of Greece. Indeed, he constantly reminds himself that “I am a king . . .

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