Tragic Man.

Oedipus is the epitome of Aristotle's Tragic Man. First of all, he has a belief in his own freedom similar to that of the tragic man. Oedipus wants to be released from the prophecy proclaimed to him at birth. The prophecy that was declared to him said that he would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. This frightened his parents leading them to attempt to rid themselves of his presence. They wanted to stop this prophecy through his death. This, however, put it all into motion. When Oedipus was meant to be killed he was saved and then taken to a family that adopted him. Oedipus grew up in that family's house unaware that he was not their biological child. When Oedipus grew old enough to understand the extremity of his prophecy he left home. He wanted to stay as far away from his parents as possible to ensure that the prophecy would not come true, but this made it worse. He ended up thinking that when his "father" died the prophecy was ended, but that brought on his realization that he was adopted and ultimately that he had in fact killed his father and married his mother fulfilling the prophecy.
Oedipus also had pride. He thought he was better than others, and he had pride in that he thought he could escape his fate. He tried to say that he was better that others because of his accomplishments. "Come here, you pious fraud. Tell me, when did you ever prove yourself a prophet? When the Sphinx, that chanting Fury kept her deathwatch here, why silent then, not a word to set our people free? There was a riddle, not for some passer-by to solve- it cried out for a prophet. Where were you? Did you rise to the crisis? Not a word, you and your birds, your gods- nothing. No, but i came by, Oedipus the ignorant, I stopped the Sphinx! With no help from birds, the flight of my own intelligence hit the mark" (182). Oedipus is showing his pride in what he is saying to Tiresias. He brags about he is superior to him because of what he has done versus what Tiresias has done. I think this was a big flaw for Oedipus throughout the story. His arrogance put him in bad situations and arguments. what could be seen as good or bad though, would be that he had a way with power. He knew how to use it. Whether he uses it for good all the time would have to be seen through his kingship, but he had a unique power.
With capacity for suffering it could be seen a few different ways. Oedipus went through his life making sacrifices for his freedom and beliefs. Mainly, he wanted to keep the prophecy unfulfilled. In attempting to do so he shut his "parents" out of his life. He stayed far away to not take chances. Many may know what this is like having to stay away from family for so long, but he learned to deal with it because of the proclaimed prophecy. He thought what he was doing was right and in the end would give him the upper hand so that he would receive freedom from fate. Another was when he found that the prophecy had been fulfilled and that he had to live with what he had done. He did not quite just treat it as I will learn to live with what has happened though. When he found his wife had hung herself because of this he gouged his eyes out. He wanted to be dead. He believed it was wrong and that he should be punished for what he did. This shows that through his actions of trying to prevent what happened he really just brought the inevitable to the surface. This attempt at keeping it away brought it in and brought his suffering to the next level which led to his ruin.
Oedipus is committed to the idea that he can stop fate, but when he finds that it is impossible he follows through with his word. Oedipus said that the murderer of Laius would be exiled. When he found that he was the one who did it at first he did not want to believe it could have been him. However, he knew he had to realize it eventually and he still followed through with the punishment when he did. That shows great leadership and commitment.
Oedipus' vigorous protest was not one of him saying he did not do the crime. He knew he did it and was ready to take punishment. He did, however, cry out. He cried of how could this have happened to him and why must it be so. He did not like what he had become and wanted nothing of it. Taking his punishment as he should have showed goodness in his heart through doing the right thing.
The suffering endured by Oedipus made him who he was and shows that he truly was the tragic man. Oedipus died to his old self and became new. He learned from his agony and the other things he went through in his experiences. Transfiguration or the way he changed from beginning to end shows his place and the greatness of the potential of man as according to Aristotle. He now sees himself as a lower rank of people. His pride lowers and he finds what he must do and fulfill his word by receiving the punishment he deserved. He took what he should and left with only his memory and children left behind.
Lastly his impact on others was huge. With his memory left to tell along with the impact he had in the story we find our own teaching. A teaching that greatly impacted his daughters by giving them an understanding of what life can throw at them. Also, that whether it be good or bad one must deal with it. Like Antigone shows in one act, she enforces her beliefs that her brother has a right to proper burial. This shows the outer side of how important one's beliefs are. We also come to know deeper that feeling and emotion inside a man (or woman) through Oedipus. His suffering and pain teach us about not only him, but help us better understand ourselves. We see through others' experiences and learn from them what we see them endure along life's journey. This could be the same with Oedipus. We should not only look at this book and see a tragic story about a man, but also read between the lines and see the underlying meanings it portrays. We gain a better understanding of the condition of man through stories like Oedipus'.