“selfishness Is the Greatest Curse of the Human Race.

Self-Esteem is the Real Curse

“Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race,” as said by William Blackstone, answers the question that too much self-esteem can be the worst attribute one could have. Today’s world is filled with arrogance and selfishness though, as everybody possesses it. The amount of self-esteem one has can determine the type of person they are. For example, in the book “Oedipus Rex”, the main character Oedipus’s arrogance leads him to make choices that affect the rest of his life such as murdering his own father. Throughout the story, Oedipus exemplifies how too much self-esteem can be a bad thing.

After he fled his family, Oedipus got into an altercation with a man. The reason for the fight was that he ran Oedipus off the road and Oedipus reacted with road rage. Oedipus’s arrogance led him to murdering the man who of course was his biological father. His thought process was that he was too good to be treated like that and that he needs to do something about it. He obviously took it too far as a result and was not worried at all whom it may be that he was attacking.

Later on, Oedipus becomes king and rules the city of Thebes. Since the plague is still affecting the people he assures them that they aren’t experiencing as much pain as he is. Many people are sick and dying and while he is not, he has the nerve to say he has it worse. His arrogance at this point has caused him to essentially be ignorant of what is happening to others. To make matters worse, he was the ruler of these people. Eventually, he accused of murdering his father and he immediately blows off that idea because he is blinded by the truth.