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Greek tragedy aristotle
Oedipus character development
Greek tragedy aristotle
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The genre of tragedy first appeared in ancient Greek and Roman theatres, staring with Aeschylus, the father of tragedy, and followed by Sophocles, the writer of Oedipus. Tragedies became very popular with the people because they are entertaining and evoke cantharis, which mean to feel pity and fear and purge their emotions. According to Aristotle, a Greek writer, the play Oedipus Rex is the ideal tragedy. It is embedded with elements that are key to a successful tragedy. Key elements in a tragedy include a tragic hero, who is noble character with a tragic flaw that results in his down fall; the element of Catharism; inevitability and certainty, in which the audience is in on the action by knowing the outcome that creates the tension and expectation; …show more content…
The term hero is defined as a person who faces adversity, or demonstrates courage in the face of danger. (Tragic Hero) However, sometimes he faces a downfall as well. Aristotle once said that “A man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” (McManus) When a hero confronts his downfall or tragic flaw, he is recognized as a tragic hero. According to Jacobus “a Greek tragedy focused on a person of noble birth who often had risen to the great height and then fall precipitately” due to a tragic flaw (Jacobus). Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who commits an error in judgment, and who must suffer the consequences of his actions. (McManus) Oedipus’s tragic flaw that leads to his downfall is his excessive pride and self-righteousness that makes him blind to the truth. It is important for a tragedy to have a tragic hero with these certain qualities. The tragic hero should be neither better nor worse morally than normal people, in order to allow the audience to identify with them. This also introduces pity, which also is very crucial in tragedy, as if the hero was perfect we would be outraged with their fate or not care especially because of their ideological superiority. If the hero was imperfect or evil, then the audience would feel that he had gotten what he deserved. It is important to strike a balance in …show more content…
As Aristotle proclaimed, this emotional attachment is further used as a means for the character of Oedipus to evoke pity or fear from the audience in the latter half of the play. (McManus) The purpose of a tragic hero is to evoke sad emotions such as pity and fear, which makes the audience to experience catharsis, the feeling of pity and fear, and relieve them of their pent up emotions. It also gives wisdom to the audience to avoid such things in their own lives. Oedipus learns a lesson from his own error in judgment, his tragic flaw, and become an example to the audience of what happens when a great men fall from this high social or political position. Being a tragic hero, Oedipus is on a quest for truth, during his quest he realizes that if he continues on his quest for truth he will cause himself great harm, yet he continues on his pursuit for truth. Knowing the outcome of the play, the audience is seized by the ironic nature of this play of Oedipus tries to escape his fate, but ends up fulfilling the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother. However, it is not Oedipus’s physical completion of the prophecy that causes him to fall, but rather it is the
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. All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy.
An Aristotelian Tragic Hero is characterized by seven different aspects; the tragic hero must have noble stature, be good but not perfect, have an error in judgment, have a downfall, go through catharsis, their punishment must exceed crime, and the audience must feel fear and pity for the character. The two plays Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles show the qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotle using Oedipus and partially Antigone. The tragic hero title does not apply to a character that does not represent one or more characteristics. Antigone only represents some qualities of an Aristotelian Tragic Hero, whereas Oedipus represents all of the qualities.
After realizing that the prophecy given to Oedipus by the Oracle at Delphi is true, Oedipus does not wish to see the truth. As his own punishment, Oedipus blinds himself and then banishes himself from Thebes and society. In doing so, Oedipus ends his hero's journey. He also completes another characteristic of the hero's journey, suffering a unhealable wound of which he hero never recovers. At the end of his journey, Oedipus understands that he can not avoid or change his own fate. Through his rise to power, Oedipus had fulfilled the prophecy given to him by the Oracle at Delphi, showing that no one can escape their fate. With a unhealable wound and a lesson learned, Oedipus ends his hero's
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.
A tragic hero is one with a supreme pride, yet has an unfaltering sense of commitment and is a good man overall. A tragic hero has the capacity to suffer and, because of an error in judgment, will experience a dramatic transformation that evokes a profound pity. This is a tragic hero and based on this conception, Oedipus is an evident
According to Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, a tragic hero must be born from a high social class and his or her downfall must be caused by a fatal flaw of that character. Aristotle also mentioned that a tragic hero is someone that is between two extremes. Neither good nor bad, just their fatal flaws brining misfortune to themselves. The purpose of a tragic hero is to create catharsis for the audience by empathising with the protagonist. Therefore a proper tragedy
Oedipus Rex qualifies as a tragedy. It fits all the characteristics as defined by Aristotle. The tragic hero of a play is a man of some social standing and personal reputation, but sufficiently like ourselves in terms of his weaknesses that we feel fear and pity when a tragic flaw, rather than an associate, causes his downfall. Oedipus is the tragic hero in this play for many reasons. Even though he does not know it, he fulfills the oracle's prophecy by killing his father, Laius, and then sleeping with his mother, Jocasta. His father was just a tragic mistake. Oedipus thought that the person he killed was just a random person that was harassing him.
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.
According to Aristotle, a tragedy must be an imitation of life in the form of a serious story that is complete in itself among many other things. Oedipus is often portrayed as the perfect example of what a tragedy should be in terms of Aristotle’s Poetics. Reason being that Oedipus seems to include correctly all of the concepts that Aristotle describes as inherent to dramatic tragedy. These elements include: the importance of plot, reversal and recognition, unity of time, the cathartic purging and evocation of pity and fear, the presence of a fatal flaw in the “hero”, and the use of law of probability.
Greek Drama had three main categories The Comedy, Satyr Plays, and The Tragedy. The most popular of the three is The Tragedy, its themes are often such as loss of love, complex relationships between men and the gods, and corruption of power. These dramas taught the people of the city the difference between good and bad behavior and the ramifications of going against the gods. According to Aristotle, the perfect tragedy consisted of the downfall of the hero through a great misunderstanding, causing suffering and awareness for the protagonist meanwhile making the audience feel pity and fear. The prominent writer who Aristotle based his perfect tragedy theory was Sophocles, his drama Oedipus the King had all the elements of a perfect tragedy.
When it comes to the history of drama Sophocles’ Oedipus is the king of all tragic heroes. From killing his own father and marring his own mother Oedipus’s tragic downfall leaves the reader emotionally scarred for life. Yet he still holds on to his morality and prevails past it all. Famous Greek philosopher Aristotle defines what a tragic hero is and Oedipus fits it perfectly. Oedipus is a true embodiment of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through his ability to preserve his virtue and wisdom, despite his flaws and predicament.
Tragedies have been written, told, and acted out for a number of years. Aristotle defined in his book, Poetics that a tragedy is to arouse the emotions of pity, fear, and finally a catharsis, or purging of emotions. A tragic play that perfectly completes this cycle of emotions is Oedipus the King by Sophocles. This play follows a king of the town of Thebes through his journey of the emotions of pity, fear, and finally a catharsis. It is a tale of a man who unknowingly kills his father and fathers the children of his mother as well. The audience is pulled into the play and experiences the plot along with Oedipus.
Oedipus the King by Sophocles has the ingredients necessary for a good Aristotelian tragedy. The play has the essential parts that form the plot, consisting of the peripeteia, anagnorisis and a catastrophe; which are all necessary for a good tragedy according to the Aristotelian notion. Oedipus is the perfect tragic protagonist, for his happiness changes to misery due to hamartia (an error). Oedipus also evokes both pity and fear in its audience, causing the audience to experience catharsis or a purging of emotion, which is the true test for any tragedy according to Aristotle.
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.
In The Poetics, the greatest statement of classical dramatic theory, Aristotle cites Oedipus as the best example of Greek tragedy. According to Aristotle, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is not perfect, but has tragic flaws (hamartia). Aristotle points out that Oedipus' tragic flaw is excessive pride (hubris) and self-righteousness. Aristotle also enlightens certain characteristics that determine a tragic hero. Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who commits an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions. The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in judgment, his tragic flaw, and become an example to the audience of what happens when great men fall from their arrogant social or political positions. According to Aristotle, a tragedy must be an imitation of life in the form of a serious story that is complete in it; in other words, the story must be realistic and narrow in focus. A good tragedy will evoke pity and fear in its viewers, causing the viewers to experience a feeling of catharsis. Catharsis, in Greek, means "purgation" or "purification"; running through the...