Was Oedipus Responsible For His Own Downfall

Oedipus is the King of thebes and married to Jocasta. He became the King of Thebes after King Laius came to a sudden end when he was murdered. He was determined king who thinks very highly of himself. He is a good physician, calculator and ruler. Every decision he made was in the best interest of the city. Oedipus solved the riddle of the sphinx which ultimately saved the Kingdom of Thebes from the plague. This made Oedipus a respected ruler that was well liked in Thebes. His time as ruler eventually came to an unexpected end. Although Oedipus could not control his fate, his confidence in himself, determination and stubbornness to find out who killed Laius led to his downfall. Throughout the play Oedipus struggles with not being able to solve this murder. He believes that laius death was an important one since he was the king before Oedipus. This gave Oedipus the motivation to try and solve his death.

It had started way before Oedipus had known it had started. He starts off by showing his self entitlement. Oedipus is a man of action and wants everything done his way. He shows his confidence and self entitlement when he says “you all know me, the world knows my fame, I am Oedipus”(154). When the priest said “we do rate rate you first of men” this only build on his confidence in himself. It was another person who was reassuring what he already knew. His thinking that he is better than everyone is the first thing that led to his downfall. He thought that since he was better and smarter than everyone that every decision he made was a good one and that he could do nothing