The Tragic Outcome of Intemperance in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex

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…of Laius and his relentless seeking of the murderer, to his violent blinding of himself and voluntary embracing of exile. His lack of temperance leads him inevitably to his undoing. Paradoxically, however, his shortcoming also results in the magnificent metamorphosis of the arrogant Oedipus the King into the humbled Oedipus the man. Thus, even while Oedipus the King brings about his material downfall through intemperance, Oedipus the man rises to greater spiritual heights through courage.