In the minds of the Greek’s, a hero was a person who possessed superior qualities of the mind and body and proved his superiority by accomplishing great deeds of valor, strength, or intellect. Oedipus’ strong suit was definitely intelligence and he knew it. After leaving Corinth, Oedipus wanders the land to find himself in the town of Thebes. Here his mind pays off when he solves the Riddle of the Sphinx that too

His own intelligence, hubris and desire for the truth brought the character of Oedipus Rex to his downfall. His demise and classification as a tragic hero result from his actions in the situations placed before him. Even though Oedipus was blessed with a superior intelligence, he still remained ignorant to the basic facts at hand and the warnings of those around him. His tragic flaw, hubris, gets the better of him when he meets and kills his father along the road. Oedipus rejects the wise words of the prophet and makes a fool of himself in the process. All these things occurred because of his own actions, one of the defining characteristics of a Tragic Hero. Oedipus the King may have been able to solve the Riddle of the Sphinx, but soon finds out he is solving the riddle of his own life.

Due to his constant pursuit of the truth, Oedipus takes his fate into his own hands and gains a necessary quality of a tragic hero. This quality is a hero’s conscious choice to pursue and accept his own doom. Oedipus’ unwavering insistence to uncover the truth about the murder of his father shows the commitment he has made to himself to be true. Ignoring many pleas for him to stop searching, Oedipus replies, “ I must know all, see the truth at last” (lines 598-599). Jocasta, the Messenger and the Shepherd all warn Oedipus not to venture any farther into murder

Some topics in this essay:
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