According to the ancient Greeks and Aristotle the hero is a person who possesses superior qualities of mind and body, and who proves his superiority by doing great deeds of valor, strength, or intellect. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex the main character Oedipus possesses these characteristics of a true hero, which in turn lead to his self-destruction. In the beginning of the play Oedipus’s great intellect is made known by the chorus who see him …showed first 75 words of 1847 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1847 total…Rex: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Michael J. O’Brien. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1968. 17-29. Nagle, Brendan D. The Ancient World: A Cultural and Social History. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1979. Rosenberg, Donna. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. Illinois: Passport Books, 1988. Sophocles. “Oedipus the King.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Fifth edition. Boston: Bedford, 1999. 1224-1265. Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1998.