According to Bernard Knox, “these attributes of divinity – knowledge, certainty, justice – are all qualities that Oedipus thought he possessed – and that is why he was the perfect example of inadequacy of human knowledge, certainty and justice". The lack of these qualities pushed Oedipus further and further from the truth and closer to his great fall. In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Oedipus' tragic downfall was caused by his supposed certainty of knowledge, his rash actions and judgments, and his unshakeable sense of justice. In Knox's statement, he refers to the "inadequacy of human knowledge[e]" of Oedipus. certainty” as the cause of his fall. Oedipus believed he possessed the certainty of knowledge; however, his knowledge was based on false assumptions. During the search for Laius' murderer, his certainty led him to believe that he was innocent of the crime. As Tiresius proclaimed: "Alas, how terrible it is to have wisdom where it does not profit the wise!" (Sophocles 120). Oedipus' false certainty led him to neglect the omniscient seer, Tiresius. Because of his certainty, Oedipus ignored the wise advice and...