The Tragic Fate of Oedipus In the play Oedipus Rex , Oedipus the main character meets with a tragic fate. In the beginning he is a mighty king, ruler of the city of Thebes. Then the people of Thebes come to him with a problem. The city is tragically on the surge of death. Oedipus, being the mighty king he is, is determined to solve the problem. Oedipus saved the city once before and became a hero. Now faced with this problem he would like to be a hero again, but things don't always take a turn out good. When the priest and the people of Thebes come to Oedipus, the priest tells Oedipus, “Your own eyes must tell you: Thebes is in her extremi