In the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus displays all of the qualities of the Greek tragic hero. Like all tragic heroes, he is of noble birth and has greatness, while still having the qualities of the common man. Oedipus has a tragic flaw and as a result ends up fighting a losing battle against his fate. His fate is not deserved, he must also cause his own downfall, and his punishment exceeds the deed.
             Oedipus could hardly deserve his fate at birth that he would murder his father and marry his mother. First of all, it is the actions of his parents that caused his fate. His birth parents sought the advice of the Delphi Oracle, who warns that they should not have any children because Laius' son would be fated to kill his father and marry his
             mother. When the boy is born, Laius is overcome with terror
             when he remembers the oracle's prophesy and gets rid of him. He was a good-natured person and compassionate king. Even more importantly, his fate was determined before his birth, as fates are by definition in Greek tragedy and myth, and obviously cannot be deserving of it.
             Pride and ignorance turn out to be Oedipus' tragic flaws that lead to his downfall. Due to his pride or rather arrogance, he attempts to raise himself to the level of the gods by trying to escape his fate, which is one of the sins against the gods. When he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life, he believed that he could fight the fate that had been imposed upon him. This caused him to take actions, like leave Corinth, which ultimately and inevitably lead toward him fulfilling the prophecy and his fate. Yet he believed that he had succeeded in changing his fate when he left Corinth.
             Oedipus' ignorance also leads him to cause his own downfall. He knew he was fated to kill his father and
             marry his mother, yet he did not even question whether the man he had killed could have been his f
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