Oedipus and Okonkwo: Tragic Heros
Tragic hero tales come from many different cultures, different countries around the world, and even different eras. Tragic heroes are usually warriors of some kind. Oedipus and Okonkwo are examples of this. In Socrates' Oedipus Rex and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Oedipus and Okonkwo are tragic heroes with the traits of having high status, struggling to solve their problems, and suffering more than they deserve.
Oedipus has high status, struggles to solve his problems, and suffers more than he deserves. Oedipus is the adopted son of a king, and he is the current king of Thebes. He struggles to solve his problems, choosing to ignore the warning Tiresias gave him and the truth that he married his mother and killed his father. While that is a horrible truth to learn, he puts out his eyes, loses his wife/mother to suicide, and exiles himself from Thebes, never to see his children again. He suffers far more than he deserves.
Okonkwo has high status, struggles to solve his problems, and suffers more than he deserves like Oedipus. Okonkwo's status in the village is described as fairly well off. He shows his high status when it is said "He was a wealthy farmer, and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife." (8) Okonkwo also struggles to solve his problems. He doesn't want to admit his people are no longer the powerful and feared warriors they once were. Lastly, Okonkwo suffers more than he deserves. Okonkwo shows he suffers more than he deserves when he thinks to himself "He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape." He suffers when his people will not defend his actions, leaving him to commit suicide. (205)
Oedipus in Socrates Oedipus Rex and Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart have the traits of high status, struggling to solve their problems, and suffering more than they deserve, making them tragic heroes. Oedipus and Okonkwo were from different eras, but the theme of being a tragic hero is shown in both. Tragic heroes are different, but the similarities are there too.
