Oedipus, the main character in Oedipus the King, suffers from hamartia and fragility which leads to his downfall. Oedipus' imperfect character traits: pride (hubris), stubbornness and lack of respect precipitate his tragic destiny and his disappearance. Oedipus, King of Thebes, is a flawed protagonist in Sophocles' “Oedipus the King.” He is an imperfect human being who makes mistakes in his life. His mistakes, however, are very tragic and more than he deserves. He is unaware of his true identity and does not accept his gods' prophecy about him. He tries to avoid the horrible fate of his gods in his life and causes blasphemy, parricide and incest unintentionally and unknowingly. His first mistake is trying to ignore rumors that his adoptive parents are not his real parents. He flees Corinth to avoid his prophesied fate, believing that his adoptive parents are safe away from him. As fate would have it, he unknowingly kills his real father at the crossroads due to his bad mood, thoughtless anger and self-defense. Unfortunately, he fulfills his birth prophecy, The Oracle of Delphi: “To his beloved children he will be shown / a father who is also a brother; to the one/who gave birth to him, son and husband; to his father/his seed mate and killer” (lines 462-465) Oedipus, through his hasty actions and decisions, commits terrible sins: kills his father, commits incest, and disobeys the gods. His destiny continues on its path since he becomes king of Thebes. He deciphers the riddle of the monstrous Sphinx by answering correctly: It is man, who crawls like a baby, walks as an adult and uses a cane in old age. He takes power over the inhabitants of Thebes. He considers himself mighty and mighty above all else. He demonstrates his true pride and ego in line 8: "I, Oedipus, a n...... middle of paper ... whose eyes look to the future, not to the past, cannot see the truth only after that became clear to everyone” (1424). Walton concludes: “we pity Oedipus, as Freud tells us, because, on some level, his fate could be ours” (1424). Oedipus appears to have everything a man could desire; but, in seeking the truth, he loses everything. Fate is unfair: it appears unexpectedly and unexpectedly. Works cited by Sophocles. “Oedipus, the king. » Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing: Ed. Edgar versus Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th compact edition. Boston: Longman, 2012. 969-1004. PrintWalton, J. Michael. “Oedipus, the King (Oedipus Tyrannus) play by Sophocles, 430 BC.” Reference guide to world literature. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 3rd ed. Flight. 2: Works. Detroit: St. James Press, 2003. 1423-1424. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Internet. November 11. 2013.