The essay below was written in this section and is reproduced anonymously with the

permission of the writer. It isn’t a perfect 4.0 essay by any means—its ideas could be
better organized and expressed (items d., e., and f. on the Scoring Sheets I use for this
class), but it does an exceptional job in terms of responding fully and accurately to the
prompt (items a., b., and c. on the Scoring Sheet). Notice that it answers in some detail
all the questions posed by the prompt below.

Short Essay 2 • Oedipus Rex

a) Analyze Sophocles’ hero Oedipus according to Frye’s five types of heroes (above):
which is Oedipus, and why? Explain in detail why he is one type (or more?) and isn’t
the others. What does that kind of hero say about Sophocles’ society? About us?

Short Essay 2A - Oedipus Rex

According to Frye, Sophocles’ hero Oedipus is the third type of hero, a leader or

tragic hero. Frye’s definition states that if he is, “superior in degree to other men but not

to his natural environment, the hero is a leader.” Oedipus exhibits the characteristics that

fit the model of the leader or tragic hero. His story is a serious one and is considered a

tragedy by Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy. In his definition of tragedy, the hero is

exiled or alienated from society, the outcome to which Oedipus falls victim.

The very reason that causes the audience to view Oedipus as a victim is what

makes him a tragic hero because Oedipus can be a victim and is vulnerable is what allows

him to be a tragic hero. In order for him to be a hero he must possess qualities that make

him superior, and Oedipus does. Oedipus is smarter than the average man, he is more

clever and intellectual. He has the intellectual ability to stand back and observe. This

intelligence allows him to separate himself from what he is observing. Oedipus is able to

think empirically using factual proof and evidence. This method of thinking is what

gives rise to rational analysis and scientific methodology. Through this rational analysis

he is able to answer the riddle of the Sphinx, which causes him to liberate his people and

become king.
 As king, Oedipus is still far more superior to the average or normal man, but it is

his fall from grace that makes him a tragic hero. His tragic flaw is the ability to see

others easily when he can’t see himself. All tragic heroes must have some kind of built-in

vulnerability, and pride and arrogance is his. It is his pride and ignorance of his own

identity which raise the horrible episodes that take place in Thebes.

Oedipus is a tragic hero more so than any of the other heroes because his story fits

the mold of a tragedy. A tragedy evokes pity and terror. We recognize that he is close

enough to us that it could happen to us, which allows us to feel pity for him. He falls

from a high place to a low place, which proves to the audience that his character is frail,

just like our own. In the tragedy of Oedipus, we experience a catharsis or purging of

emotions. Our emotions get played out and we do not need to undergo the suffering

ourselves. As an audience, we get to witness the horror and misery of what happens to

the characters and learns from it. As the play comes to the end, Oedipus has also become

an anti-hero.

In his definition of the antihero, Frye tells us, that “if inferior in power or

intelligence to ourselves, so that we have the sense of looking down on a scene of

bondage . . . the hero belongs to the ironic mode.” At the end of the play, Oedipus does

become inferior due to his pride. Where he was blind to his own identity before, he has

now become physically blind and exiles himself. According to the definition of a tragedy

the hero has a sad ending and is alienated from society. These characteristics or endings

happen to Oedipus therefore making him a type five hero as well, which is an anti-hero.

These two types of heroes say about society that they are the opposites of each

other. A hero reflects or embodies the cultural values of a society, and an anti-hero does
not. In the society that Sophocles describes, the hero is actually not a good person

because he ends up being tortured and tormented. The story has a moral, which is “Don’t

think that you are better than the gods.” Oedipus’ story is the beginning of humanism,

which means a move away from the gods and the supernatural. Oedipus was so

concerned with humanity and with his community that he cannot see his own identity, but

it is this preoccupation with humanity that sends forth the powers of the gods to intervene

and cause his fate and life to be miserable. In our times, we may not see Oedipus’

position as so bad and deserving of punishment. Our Western civilization is based on

reasoning, intellect, and rational analysis, a story like Oedipus may never have emerged

in our society.