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Solving the Riddle of the Sphinx, becoming King of Thebes, and starting a family with his new Queen Jocasta sounds like a life of a blessed man. A man named Oedipus whose life is not all it appears to be. As a plague comes upon the city, Oedipus’ past is revealed and his life takes a quick downfall that earns him the title of a Tragic Hero. Oedipus the King possesses all the characteristics of a Greek hero, but by his own pride and fidelity to the truth he meets a tragic end of his own making. With an intelligence superior to those around him, he has an inquiring mind and refuses to stop searching to find the murderer of Laius. Oedipus chooses his own course and therefore can be called a tragic hero because his misfortune is not brought about by fate or some depravity but by error, ignorance and frailty. 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