Oedipus's downfall comes because of both his virtues and his weaknesses. First, he has excessive pride. This pride comes because of him saving his city of Thebes from the Sphinx. He is the one who comes along and solves the Sphinx’s riddle, saving his city from the wrath of the creature. The throne is awarded to him as gratitude. He also tries to deny his fate when The Oracle of Delphi tells him that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. He moves from Corinth trying to escape his fate. This action in turn leads him to kill his real father, Laius, and to marry his mother, Jocasta.
Oedipus has too much anger often seen through his short temper. This violent temper causes him to kill his real father at the crossroads. The killing of his father becomes an essential contribution to his downfall. A group of people show up throw him off the road and hit him on the head with a whip. Obviously, he is right to get angry, but killing all the men and sparing one seems to be too much of a reaction. Oedipus also speaks rudely to Creon and Teiresias when they bring him some bad news.
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Oedipus has hamartia, which is a tragic flaw. He is so determined to find Laius’ murderer in order to save Thebes, but he in turn only brings disaster to himself. Eventually, he pieces things together and finds out that the King and Queen of Corinth were not his real parents. He had fulfilled the prophecy by sleeping with his real mother and killing Laius. He finds Jocasta dead and in despair, he gouges his eyes out. The irony is that he tries to do the right thing, but ends up causing disaster.
