James Weigel wrote an article reacting to the play, Oedipus the King. He brings up multiple points about the fate of the characters, but one thing he said I found very interesting. He states, "Every act of his is performed rashly: his hot tempered killing of Laius, his investigation of the murder, his violent blinding of himself, and his insistence on being exiled. He is a man of great pride and passion who is intent on serving Thebes, but he does not have tragic stature until the evidence of his guilt begins to accumulate...Each time a character tries to comfort him with information, the information serves to damn him more thoroughly."
When I read this, I immediately thought, "That is so true!" This man has gone through so much tragedy, but most of it is his own fault. He caused his own problems. It was not fate or destiny, it was pure choice. Not once did I feel sorry for Oedipus until the end of the play where everyone was trying to pacify his feelings by telling him stories of the past in an effort to relieve him of guilt, when in reality, they caused him more guilt because he knew the truth. In this moment Oedipus because a tragic hero.
The reason, at least in my opinion, the story became intriguing after he put together the pieces was because in the moment of him causing himself so much pain, it was self destructiveness, not fate that played a role in the outcomes. No one feels sorry for a man who causes his own problems.
Oedipus Tyrannus:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/lrc/detail/detail?sid=5ca4dfbe-29bb-45a3-8124-5e9a9e8686fd%40sessionmgr4004&vid=1&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9bHJjLWxpdmU%3d#AN=103331MP423999560000518&db=lfh
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