King Mosiah, writing in Mosiah 29, demonstrates that he was a student of history. He clearly learned from the examples of King Noah (Mosiah 29:18) and of the Jaredites (Mosiah 29:7, Ether 7:13-15). We can find confirmation of his theories in the history we glean from writings left by the ancient Greeks: individual rulers accomplish great good but also great difficulty, and although democratic governments can improve the situation somewhat they are not perfect. We can also find that there is nearly always a single person in charge, which often makes for a good story. Oedipus and the Sphinx Although Sophocles wrote from the standpoint of Athenian democracy, in a time where the common man had a say in the affairs of the people, the events of Oedipus Rex hinge almost entirely on the decisions of the king: Laius in his choice of exposing his newborn son and Oedipus in his d...