What is Oedipus' hamartia in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Answer 1

A tragic flaw is the English equivalent of 'hamartia'. Pride tends to be the tragic flaw of the heroes of Greek tragedies. In the case of 'Oedipus Rex', the shoe fits.

Theban King Oedipus is so proud of his own intelligence that he thinks that he can escape a horrendous fate. He's so proud of his personal and professional accomplishments that he stops looking over his shoulder or looking gift horses in the mouth.

Instead, Oedipus needs to keep his guard up, to remain vigilant. He's foredoomed to kill his own father and marry his own mother. He needs to proceed carefully through every violent interaction with individuals old enough to be his father. He likewise needs to proceed carefully through every romantic attachment with individuals old enough to be his mother.

Answer 2

His parentage is Oedipus' hamartia in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, hamartia refers to a mistake, an omission that results in injury to oneself and/or to others. That Theban King Oedipus is ignorant of his true parentage is at the root of all of the injuries to himself and to others. For example, Oedipus is raised to think of Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope as his parents until he hears a rumor to the contrary. When he tries to find out if the rumor is unfounded, he learns from the Delphic oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother. The prophecy, which is not a direct answer, is so unexpected and so distasteful that Oedipus runs away, kills a man who looks an older version of himself and who turns out to be his father and marries a woman old enough to be his mother and whose son he turns out to be. It is Oedipus' mistaken self-identity that is at the root of these injuries to himself and his family and these offenses against the gods and mortals.