For example, Oedipus is shown, from the first scene, to be a benevolent ruler. Sophocles builds this idea through dialogue as Oedipus refers to the people of Thebes as “My children” – this paternal image is also noted by critic Victor Ehrenberg when he writes “Oedipus is a good king, a father of his people”. An ethical belief of the Ancient Greeks was that “each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the city as well” (Pericles) so Sophocles’s conception of character therefore reflects the ethical beliefs of this society. Similarly to Faustus, Oedipus displays intelligence, for example, he is the only person able to solve the sphinx’s riddle. Famously the Ancient Greeks held knowledge and scholarship highly so again Oedipus is demonstrating contemporary ideals. Furthermore the ideal Athenian leader would have been a “man of action”, something Oedipus definitely was. Frequently he is one step ahead (“I sent escorts, twice, within the hour”) therefore fulfilling this notion. However, initially, whilst he is a man of action he does not behave rashly and thinks carefully prior to acting (“groping and labouring over many paths of thought” before making a decision) and therefore is exemplifying still further this notion of the Athenian…