Firstly, Oedipus’ status meets that of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is defined as an exemplar, a paragon, and a light bearer. The tragic hero must be someone of importance, someone more important than the average character in the play. He must be above the community in some way. Oedipus passes this requirement with ease for he was a hero and held a revered position within his society. He sold the Sphinx’s riddle and became the

Thirdly, Oedipus is placed in a tragic situation because he has been given a test. All tragic heroes go through a test, which eventually leads to their downfall. This test can be anything at all such as whether or not a character will perform a certain task, believe a certain person, follows someone’s mistakes, or in the Oedipus’ case, pursue the search for knowledge. Oedipus’ test is whether or not he will continue his search for his true identity even though it could destroy him. Jocasta pleads Oedipus to end his search for knowledge, but Oedipus merely replies: “…Forget it all? I can’t stop now. Not with all my birth clues in my hands” (p.59). By continuing to search for his answer, Oedipus destroys himself, for he ends up being the murderer that he is looking for. This shows how Oedipus is trapped in a tragic situation.

Oedipus is a tragic hero in a tragic situation. Sophacles did a great job of giving the proper qualities to both the hero and the situation. He gave Oedipus the proper status and a tragic flaw to call him a tragic hero and he gave Oedipus a test and physical deterioration but mental enlightenment to call his situation a tragic one. His play is so beautifully crafted that it coincides the rules set by English standards even today. Shakespearean plays were based on this concept and it is said that Shakespeare himself had a copy of Oedipus Rex w

Some topics in this essay:
Oedipus Oedipus’, Secondly Oedipus’, Thirdly Oedipus, Rex Sophocles, Finally Oedipus’, King Thebes, Firstly Oedipus’, tragic hero, King Lear, tragic situation, physical deterioration, tragic flaw, Oedipus Rex, deterioration mental enlightenment, deterioration mental, hero tragic, physical deterioration mental, tragic hero tragic, play oedipus, mental enlightenment, status tragic, , hero tragic hero, oedipus’ tragic, oedipus’ situation definitely,