In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is a classic tragic hero.
According to Aristotle's definition, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is a
king whose life falls apart when he finds out his life story. There are a
number of characteristics described by Aristotle that identify a tragic hero.
For example, a tragic hero must cause his own downfall; his fate is not
deserved, and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble
stature and have greatness. Oedipus is in love with his idealized self, but
neither the grandiose nor the depressive "Narcissus" can really love himself
(Miller 67). All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero
according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy, and a narcissist according to
Alice Miller's The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self.
Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an
important or influential man who makes an error in judgment, and who must
then suffer the consequences of his actions. Those actions are seen when
Oedipus forces Teiresias to reveal his destiny and his father's name. When
Teiresias tries to warn him by saying "This day will give you parents and
destroy you" (Sophocles line 428), Oedipus still does not care and proceeds
with his questioning. The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in
judgment and become an example to the audience of what happens when great men
fall from their lofty social or political positions. According to Miller, a
person who is great, who is admired everywhere, and needs this admiration to
survive, has one of the extreme forms of narcissism, which is grandiosity.
Grandiosity can be seen when a person admires himself, his qualities, such as
beauty, cleverness, and talents, and his success and achievements greatly. If
one of these happens to fail, then the catastrophe of a severe depression is
near (Miller 34). Those actions happen when the Herdsman tells Oedipus who
his mother is, and Oedipus replies "Oh, oh, then everything has come out
true. Light, I shall not look on you Again. I have been born where I should
not be born, I have been married where I should not marry, I have killed whom
I should not kill; now all is clear" (Sophocles lines 1144). Oedipus's
decision to pursue his questioning is wrong; his grandiosity blinded him and,
Albeit foolish, and my appearance not shy of a monster, I lie truly a tragic victim of the gods,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born
“Fate is nothing, but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence”, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
What would you do if someone told you you would end up killing your father and marrying your mother when you grow up? You would do anything to keep that from happening, wouldn’t you? Oedipus did in Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Unfortunately, Oedipus fails in avoiding his fate. Faced with a choice between pursuing the truth which everyone tells him would lead to his destruction or accepting a life without knowing any better, Oedipus chooses self-knowledge over self-deception. This makes Oedipus a perfect example of a tragic hero. In Greek drama, a tragic hero is a protagonist of a noble birth who possesses a tragic flaw that leads to his down fall but shows the courage to accept responsibility for his own actions.
In this quote, Aristotle believes Oedipus to be one of the best examples of a tragic hero. He also states that all tragic heroes have flaws which are the main causes for their downfalls. Oedipus is an example of a classic tragic hero while Willy Loman is a modern tragic hero however, both Oedipus and Willy have similar flaws. They both experience hubris because they struggle with reality due to their arrogance and self-pride. As a result, these characters inflict harm to themselves due to their lack of right judgement. In addition, these tragic heroes are blind and fail to see the tragic flaws in which they have.
Through Aristotle’s specific definition of a tragic hero, it can be concluded that Oedipus is a tragic hero. Oedipus The King was written by a well-known tragic dramatist named Sophocles. This story is considered to be one of the greatest tragedies of all time. In fact, the Marjorie Barstow of the Classical Weekly says that it “fulfills the function of a tragedy, and arouses fear and pity in the highest degree” (Barstow). It is also very controversial because of the relationship that Oedipus has with his mother, although it was unknown at the time that they were related. The qualifications of a tragic hero, according to Aristotle, include coming from a royal family and falling from power due to actions that only the protagonist can take responsibility for. The main character must also have a tragic flaw, which is defined as a “weakness in character” (Gioia). There have been many protagonists in other plays that represent a tragic hero, but none exemplify Aristotle’s tragic hero traits quite as well as Oedipus does because of many reasons including his royal history, his tragic flaw, his hamartia, and his his fall from power.
Courageous and admirable with noble qualities defines a heroine. In Aristotle’s Poetics he describes a tragic hero as a character who is larger than life and through fate and a flaw they destroy themselves. Additionally, Aristotle states excessive pride is the hubris of a tragic hero. The hero is very self-involved; they are blind to their surroundings and commit a tragic action. A tragedy describes a story that evokes sadness and awe, something larger than life. Furthermore, a tragedy of a play results in the destruction of a hero, evoking catharsis and feelings of pity and fear among the audience. Aristotle states, "It should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation." (18) For a tragedy to arouse fear, the audience believes similar fate might happen to them and the sight of the suffering of others arouses pity. A tragedy's plot includes peripeteia, anagnorisis, hamartia and catharsis. Using Aristotle’s criteria, both characters in Oedipus The King and The Medea share similar qualities that define a tragic hero such as being of noble birth, having excessive pride, and making poor choices. They both gain recognition through their downfall and the audience feels pity and fear.
...eaven, that all The sentence from thy head removed may light On me, sole cause to
Before the twentieth century plays were mainly written as either a tragedy or comedy. In a tragic play the tragic hero will often do something that will eventually destroy him. In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the tragic hero. In this tragic play the main character, which is portrayed as Oedipus, will do a good deed that will in turn make him a hero. This hero will reach his height of pride in the story, and in the end the action, which he had committed earlier, will return and destroy this man who was once called a hero.
Many things can describe a tragedy. However, according to definition of a tragedy by Aristotle, there are only five. The play has to have a tragic hero, preferably of noble stature. Second, the tragic hero must have a tragic flaw. Because of that flaw, the hero falls from either power or death. Due to the fall, the tragic hero discovers something. Finally, there must be catharsis in the minds of the audience.
Sophocles’ tragic drama, Oedipus Rex, presents to the reader a full range of conflicts and their resolution after a climax.
According to Aristotle's theory of tragedy and his definition of the central character, Oedipus the hero of Sophocles is considered a classical model of the tragic hero. The tragic hero of a tragedy is essential element to arouse pity and fear of the audience to achieve the emotional purgation or catharathis. Therefore, this character must have some features or characteristics this state of purgation. In fact, Oedipus as a character has all the features of the tragic hero as demanded by Aristotle.
Oedipus Rex is considered to be one of the greatest tragedies. It has all the hallmarks of Greek tragedies. This includes the downfall of the character of high status or power, the hero’s suffering because of hamartia, and his hubris that causes the error. Oedipus, the tragic hero, was prideful. It could be argued that because of this trait; he makes the mistake of trying to escape his fate; thus making sure it would come true. Although Oedipus was flawed, this is not the complete reason for his downfall. The gods, not surprisingly, had a hand in Oedipus’ horrible fate. Apollo engineered the events that would ultimately end in Oedipus’ catastrophe.
Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.