Tragedy in oedipus rex assignment

The moment of remorse comes at the end of the story, when one of the servants who had accompanied Laius on his final journey came to speak to Oedipus. He was the only one who survived the attack, and told that contrary to rumor, Laius was killed by one man, not robbers. He then pointed out this one man, Oedipus. We are told soon after that Jocasta hanged herself upon hearing this. When this news reaches Oedipus, he takes the pins from her dress and stabs his eyes out. The catharsis, or emotional cleansing of the audience, comes at the same time as the remorse.

The audience suddenly feels sorry for this poor man who has unknowingly killed his father and arried his mother, for the people Of this land who have been suffering from an awful curse because of it, and for the unfortunate Jocasta, who was basically an innocent bystander in the whole confusing disaster. In these five ways, the story Oedipus Rex classifies as a tragedy. However, in my opinion at least, you don’t really need a standard checklist to see if Oedipus Rex is a tragedy or not. Any story which ends in the death of one major character and a lifetime of misery, shame, and self-exile for the other major character is clearly a tragedy.