Of Oedipus the King, Segal states, "The stories of kings are themselves exemplary of the extreme limits of human criminality and human grandeur; and this play shows a great and passionate king confronting unspeakable horrors," (p. 3). The same can be said for Okonkwo. Although Okonkwo is less known in the canon of world literature, he too represents absolute heroism in the classical Greek sense. Like Oedipus the King of Thebes, Okonkwo of the Umuofia confronts "unspeakable horrors," and like Oedipus he too, participates blindly in them. As warriors, both Oedipus and Okonkwo earn and maintain the respect of their people and both are generally deemed worthy as leaders. Pride gets the better of both men and causes calamity to their community, their loved ones and themselves, but in the end, Oedipus and Okonkwo both exemplify heroism. The stories of Oedipus and Okonkwo show that the concept of heroism is portrayed similarly in the literature of disparate cultures. On the one hand, Oedipus the King is a primogenitor of Greek epic drama, a play with a plot that predates Sophocles himself. On the other hand, Things Fall Apart represents themes in post-colonial Africa, many centuries and miles away. In both cases, though, the theme of heroism is drawn out by central characters Oedipus and Okonkwo, who emerge as remarkably similar figures besieged mainly by personal pride.

             Family and kinship is one of the main arenas in which both Oedipus and Okonkwo abuse their power and most clearly demonstrate their being seduced by hubris. Because their respective cultures are structured along traditional lines, kinship ties mean much for both protagonists. For Oedipus, family signifies connections with his past. Much of the play is concerned with Oedipus' family of origin, indicating that his identity is strongly caught up with his past. Through dramatic irony, Sophocles divulges to the audience that Oedipus has been living a lie: like a boy who never knew he was adopted, Oedipus had gone years without knowing that the man he killed on the crossroads was his father, and that the woman he had since taken as a wife was his mother.