Tragedy and epic are two different genres of literature. Tragedies are meant for a large audience, focus on a single revolution or event over a short span of time, and have unity of place. Epics have a refined audience, do not have a limit on action, can have incidents occurring in numerous places, and tell long narrative poems. Some key differences are that tragedies are more compact and concentrated while epics are more episodic in nature. Oedipus and his story exemplify the classic tragic hero due to his birth, marriage, and actions leading to his downfall.