Fate, Hubris, and Truth:

The Downfall of Oedipus and Othello

By Corey Olszewski

The tragedy of Oedipus and Othello’s fates lies in their search for truth and their personal

excesses of pride. However noble their efforts, however honorable their reasons, their excessive

pride blinds them to the truth of reality in favor of the truths that they wish to be.

Oedipus and Othello share many of the same qualities. Both are men of high esteem in

their worlds; one is a king, and the other is a general of renown. Both have achieved success

through their own cunning, merit, and tactical genius. They are both self confident in their

personal abilities, intelligence, and wisdom professionally and personally. While this pride at

first presents as self-confidence, both ultimately lead to tragic ends in their pursuit of truth. Some

commentaries conclude that both men suffer from a tragic flaw (Lawton. 1-2). That flaw is

excessive pride.

Oedipus, unaware of his true parentage, unknowingly murders his father, King Laius, at a

crossroads and marries Laius’ wife - his own mother, Jocasta - when he assumes Laius’ vacant

throne. Thus, even before the beginning of the story, the prophecy has already been fulfilled. The

actual tragedy lies not in the fulfillment of the prophecy itself, but in the damage that the truth of

it does to Jocasta, the kingdom that he loves, and himself.

Oedipus, caught up in his previous success over the Sphinx, refuses to listen to anyone

concerning the prophecy. Oedipus brushes off the prophet Teiresias when he tells Oedipus that
“the accursed polluter of this land is you” (Oedipus the King. 421). Oedipus, rather than seeking

out the truth of Teiresias’ claim, accuses Teiresias of falsehood and threatens him.

Dianne Trumbull, in her article “Hubris: A Primal Danger”, postulated that it was not

simply pride that undid Oedipus, but specifically hubris. She differentiates between pride and

hubris as “related emotional states that drive different goal-directed responses in moral

decisionmaking” (349). In other words, it wasn’t simply that Oedipus was prideful, but that his

excessive pride – hubris – kept him from listening to anyone, specifically Teiresias and Jocasta,

concerning the truth about what happened on the crossroads. His decision making was altered

because of his excess of self pride. Instead of trying to find out the truth for the good of his

kingdom (as defeating the Sphinx was), his mission became one of personal obsession.

In the end, Oedipus’s hubristic search for truth leads him to discover that Laius’ murderer

was, in fact, himself. Even when Jocasta pleads with him to abandon his search for truth so that

they may continue to live in peace, he can not do it:

OEDIPUS. I will not be convinced I should not learn

the whole truth of what these facts amount to.

JOCASTA. But I care about your own well being—

what I tell you is for your benefit.

OEDIPUS. What you’re telling me for my own good

just brings me more distress.

JOCASTA. Oh, you unhappy man!

May you never find out who you really are! (Oedpius the King. 1276-1284)
 The actual truth makes Oedipus gouge out his eyes in grief, drives his wife kill herself,

and leaves his kingdom in turmoil. If Oedipus had dropped the matter, as his wife had asked,

they could have continued to live and rule their kingdom in peace.

Ian Johnston, in his lecture “Fate, Freedom, and the Tragic Experience”, writes that “the

story of a hero who challenges or encounters fate and has to respond… can force us to confront

some basic truths about life and about how what we like to believe rests on some fundamental

assumptions” (5). Oedipus’ fundamental assumption was that the truth, no matter what, had to be

revealed, regardless of who it hurt. Unfortunately, this meant that he was the one who would

suffer. This is not only true for Oedipus, but also Othello.

Othello, mislead by the poisonous Iago, is maneuvered into killing his beloved wife for

infidelity. When Iago posits that Desdemona is unfaithful to him, Othello, rather than defending

her, listens to Iago’s twisted truths. Othello’s tragic fate is tied directly to his overblown pride

and his unwillingness to see the actual truth, only the truth he believes in. He believes in his own

abilities to find the truth so fully that Iago exploits him masterfully, making Othello believe in

his lies as perfectly as if they were truth.

The truth that Othello ends up accepting is based on his fundamental assumption that

women are untrustworthy. In “Moral Mistakes, Virtue and Sin: The Case of Othello”, Jean

Porters asserts that “Othello's fault — his credulity — turns out to be both based on and qualified

by a set of beliefs about the characteristics of women and at least some kinds of men” (29). Ergo,

Othello’s fundamental assumptions and beliefs about women make his search for truth skewed.

He sees what he wants to see, not what is.

Even though Othello loves Desdemona fiercely, and considers her his most prized

possession, he does not trust her. As Othello laments “O curse of marriage, that we can call these
delicate creatures ours, and not their appetites!” (Othello. 3.3.268-270), it becomes clear that

Othello’s untrustworthiness of women has soured his opinion of marriage as well. Because of his

prideful tragic flaw, he disregards any notion that Desdemona is innocent.

In conclusion, Oedipus and Othello’s tragic fates are not due to prophecy or

predestination, or even chance. Their prideful excesses, and misconceived fundamental

assumptions about the truth are directly responsibility for their tragic ends. Oedipus, of his own

free will, pursued his investigation without stopping to think about the consequences for himself,

his queen, and his kingdom – and thus brought his house to ruin. Othello, because of his arrogant

assumption that women are ruled by their passions and are consequently uncontrollable if given

too much leave, assumes the worst about Desdemona instead of trusting her as he ought to.

Othello and Oedipus’ pride, their hubris, is what leads them, and those close to them, into ruin.

Works Cited:

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Ian Johnston. Handout. Composition II: English
1302. (Professor Lawton) Tarrant County College. Fort Worth. March 2013. Web.

Shakespeare, William. Othello. Handout. Composition II: English 1302. (Professor

Lawton) Tarrant County College. Fort Worth. March 2013. Web.

Lawton, Rachel. “Brief Commentary About the Plays.” Handout. Tarrant County
College. Fort Worth. n. d. Web.

Johnston, Ian. “Fate, Freedom, and the Tragic Experience: An Introductory Lecture on
Sophocles's Oedipus the King.” Lecture. Handout. Composition II: English 1302.
(Professor Lawton) Tarrant County College. Fort Worth. n. d. Web.

Porter, Jean. "Moral Mistakes, Virtue and Sin: The Case of Othello." Studies in Christian
Ethics 18.2 (2005): 23-44. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April. 2013.

Trumbull, Dianne. “Hubris: A Primal Danger”. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological

Processes 73.4 (2010): 341-351. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April. 2013.