Larry David's Flaw

I recently heard a radio production of Sophocles' Oedipus. Starting at least with Aristotle, the play has been held out as a perfect example of tragedy. Oedipus himself is seen as a noble character, and the fact he wants to know the truth, regardless of the consequence, makes him a hero.

I don't quite see it that way. Oedipus strikes me as angry, arrogant, close-minded and not too quick on the uptake. When the play starts, a plague is on Thebes, where King Oedipus rules. He discovers it's because the murderer of King Laius, whom Oedipus replaced, has not been captured and punished. Oedipus gets right on the case, mostly by threatening everyone around him. The rest of the play is the process whereby Oedipus discovers he killed Laius (essentially over nothing, as we discover when Oedipus tells his story) and that Laius, fulfilling a prophecy, was his father. This also means he's sleeping with his mother, Jocasta. (If this was a spoiler, the statute of limitations has long run out.)

The trouble is it's not a search for truth. Oedipus finds the truth right away. He calls for the seer, Teiresias. When Teiresias doesn't want to talk, Oedipus gets mad and accuses him of conspiring in the murder. Here's what follows:

TEIRESIAS: ...the accursed polluter of this land is you.
OEDIPUS: You dare to utter shameful words like this? Do you think you can get away with it?
TEIRESIAS: I am getting away with it. The truth within me makes me strong.
OEDIPUS: Who taught you this? It could not have been your craft.
TEIRESIAS: You did. I did not want to speak, but you incited me.
OEDIPUS: What do you mean? Speak it again, so I can understand you more precisely.
TEIRESIAS: Did you not grasp my words before, or are you trying to test me with your question?
OEDIPUS: I did not fully understand your words. Tell me again.
TEIRESIAS: I say that you yourself are the very man you’re looking for.

So there we have it. The play has hardly started and we know the answer. But Oedipus won't listen. Instead he regularly flies into a rage, blames others for the murder (particularly Creon, the brother of Jocasta) and only finds the truth long after everyone else, such as his queen, has figured it out.

His tragic flaw is the same as Larry David's comic flaw--he just can't leave well enough alone.