Significant events among the Greek empire have developed a stimulating effect on English education around the globe. This has created a lasting effect on people and it’s uncommon to not have a familiarity with Greek tragedies. Most people do not take the time to think about the elements that make them tragedies or make the characters in them tragic heroes. In one of the “earliest surviving works of dramatic theory” of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, he laid out his rules for what is the foundation of a tragedy and a tragic hero. In the play by Sophocles, Oedipus stands out as a classic representation of what a tragedy hero is.
Oedipus the book has key aspects that Aristotle said to make a tragedy and a tragic hero. One of the requirements for being a tragic hero according to Aristotle is "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake." There must be some mistake made by the character flaw that causes the great man’s fortunes to turn for the worst. Aristotle felt that there were certain plot devices that needed to take place in order for it to qualify as a tragedy and for the character to really be a tragic hero. Without a tragic hero there cannot be a tragedy happening, plot is a very important point. The plot of a true tragedy should be complex and consist of reversal and recognition. Both of these plot elements are contained within the play Oedipus the King.

The play starts out highlighting Oedipus’ character by showing him talking to the grieving citizens in front of his palace. They are praying to the gods to stop the plague that is destroying Thebes. He mourns with his people over the hardships that have befallen the land of Thebes. He tells them that his brother-in-law, Creon, has already been sent to seek out and consult with