Oedipus Rex as a Tragedy: How this play fit into the "tragic" criteria.

Oedipus Rex as a Tragedy Oedipus Rex, written by Greek playwright Sophocles, is considered to be one of the most ingenious yet disturbing plays ever to be written. This drama has greatly influenced Western culture, as elements of this play can be seen throughout later literature, legend and language, becoming the standard for all other tragedies to be compared. The tragic figure, in this case Oedipus, is responsible for his own downfall. This leads to …

…that is to say, human faults. Despite these flaws, it is clear the tragic hero still has choices he can make. If this were not the case, and it was simply a brute fate with its blind decrees working itself through the hero, we would not have a tragedy. It is this combination of complicity and inevitability that is at the heart of the tragedy and so much of what we call the human condition.