Hamartia in Oedipus RexAccording to the Aristotelian characteristics of good tragedy, the tragic character should fall neither from excessive virtue nor from excessive wickedness, but from what Aristotle called hamartia. Hamartia can be interpreted as both a character flaw and an error of judgment. Oedipus, the tragic character in Sophocles' Oedipus the King, certainly makes many of these mistakes; however, the pervasive pattern of his errors in judgment seems to indicate an underlying character flaw that precipitates them. Oedipus' character flaw is ego. This is made evident in the first lines of the prologue when he states "Here I am myself: you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus." (ll. 7-9) His presumption is the root cause of a number of related problems. Among these are recklessness, disrespect and stubbornness. Oedipus displays an attitude of recklessness and disrespect throughout the play. When he makes his proclamation and no one confesses to Laius' murder, Oedipus immediately loses his temper and launches into his curse. Later, he shows a short temper to Tiresias: "You, scum of the earth... get out of here, once and for all!" (ll. 381, 383) and "Enough! So much filth on his part? Unbearable- -what, are you still alive? Get out, quicker, go back to where you came from, disappear!" (ll. 490-492)If reluctance to listen can be considered obstinacy, Oedipus certainly would not accept advice from anyone who told him to let go of the question of his identity, including Tiresias, the shepherd, and even Jocasta. Even after Oedipus believes he has received respite from the fate he fears when he hears that Polybus is dead, he does not have the good sense to stand still. "So! Jocasta, why, why look at the Prophet's hearth... all those prophecies that I feared... they are nothing, they are useless", he says. (ll.1053-1054, 1062, 1064) For the shepherd, Oedipus certainly has no respect for the man's age when he tortures him. In fact, Oedipus' cruelty literally snatches his own end from the shepherd: "You are a dead man if I have to ask you again... I am on the verge of hearing horrors, yes, but I must listen!" (ll. 1281, 1285) After his recognition and reversal, Oedipus exclaims "The hand that struck my eyes was mine, . . . I did it all myself!" (ll. 1469, 1471) Refers not only to the self-inflicted chaos, but also to the chain of events that led to his death.