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How does oedipus exemplify a tragic hero
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The Greeks were one of the most powerful empires of early civilizations with the well documented conquest, legends, gods, etc. One of their most significant things left of their empire, is their theatrical style, none bigger than Tragedy. The Greek Tragedy was their basis of Drama and is still studied today. Their view of the world and life could be personified in the plays and by the personages. It is the case in the play Oedipus Tyrannos. The play, written by Sophocles, represents the typical Greek view of the world with all the values that the Greeks wanted to show. This play is probably the best example to represent the typical tragic hero, in that case Oedipus. The dominant theme that Sophocles wanted to demonstrate in the play was the concept of fate and how nobody was able to escape it, not even the most prestigious people. Fate was extremely important for the Greeks because it related directly from the gods, the most powerful aspect of their existence. As a typical tragic hero, Oedipus has doomed himself to have a fatal fate by his consistent efforts to avoid his fate and also because of the human side in him that tried to protect him from it. Eventually, Oedipus could not escape what the Gods had written in time for his life. This paper will try to prove this statement by looking at Oedipus as the tragic hero and the representation of the concept of fate in Oedipus Tyrannos by looking at Oedipus.
In typical Greek tragedy, the main character to whom the story is about and relates to is the tragic hero. Aristotle defined the tragic hero as "a person of exalted position who, because of some error or flaw, suffers a total reversal of fortune arousing a feeling of pity and fear. The calamities befalling him are exceptional ...
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...nstant efforts were in vain because humans are not able to control their fate no matter what they do, if it is meant to be it is meant to be. What if king Laios and queen Jocasta instead of wanting to kill Oedipus when he was young would have instead kept him done to the fate of Oedipus? Would it have destroyed it or simply created an even worse that it was? No one will ever know but, it is still debated today.
Bibliography
Friedman, Norman. "The Tagic Hero." College English May 1958: 368-369. Print.
Kierkegaard, S. The Ancient Tragical Motif as Reflected in the Modern. New York: Anchor Books, 1944.Online. Retrieved April 10th 2011 from http://www.suite101.com/content/the-role-of-fate-and-destiny-in-greek-theater-a124452
Mishra, Karuna Shanker . "The Greek Tragic Hero." The Tragic Hero Through Ages. New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1992. 1-37. Print.
A tragic hero is an individual who possesses a fatal flaw in their character that will bring about their own destruction or suffering. Aristotle believed that “A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. (Aristotle #1)” This Ancient Greek philosopher also believed that each tragic hero has four characteristics. The first of these characteristics is that a tragic hero is born with either wisdom or high integrity, and in some cases both.
A tragic hero is defined as a hero who makes a judgement error and it inevitably leads to his or her death as defined by aristotle. Aristotle is one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece. He had guidelines for the best tragedies and what has to be involved in the characteristics of a tragic hero. There were five non-negotiable traits that to be in a part of the tragic hero. 1.)They had to either be of noble or royal birth or had to have wisdom. 2.)They had to have hamartia which is a tragic or fatal flaw. Most tragic heroes died, few rarely survived. 3.)They must have a reversal of fortune brought about the heroes main error which causes them to die. 4.) The hero has to have anagnorisis or an epiphany, which is when the hero
The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, are the result of the hero’s self determination and restless attempt to escape a terrifying destiny predicted for him by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. My intention is to prove that although the Fates play a crucial part in the story, it is Oedipus'choices and wrong doing that ultimately lead to his downfall.
In his Poetics, Aristotle defines the tragic hero as a man of high social status who invites the gods to punish him through overbearing pride and/or presumption – hubris. It would be simple to assign the label of hubristic tragic hero to Victor Frankenstein, but such assignment of a. label would be an oversimplification. The gods in Greek drama punish, albeit harshly, in an. outright manner in the manner. The tragic figure is aware that the gods have forsaken him, and he resigns.
The great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
Sophocles. “Oedipus Rex.” The Heath Introduction to Drama. Ed. Jordan Y. Miller. Toronto: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996. 29-72.
Many people enjoy reading about Greek plays. Greek plays are not only interesting stories but also teachings from Ancient Greece. A vital component of these plays is the tragic hero. A tragic hero is a character who is worthy of admiration but has a tragic flaw that eventually leads to his or her downfall. The character later recognizes the flaw and reflects on it. In Antigone, written by Sophocles, the tragic hero of the play was not Antigone, but Creon; Creon was a leader who earned respect, but his tragic flaw pulled him down by causing him to make a biased decision that destroyed his entire life and the people around him.
If prophecy were to be real, one could expect what is bound to happen in the future. This is true; at least in “Oedipus the King” in which the protagonist, Oedipus calls forth his doom unwillingly. Fate is defined as something that unavoidably befalls a person. The author of “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles, writes a tragic fate that Oedipus was born to experience. Fate is what is meant to happen and cannot be avoided or unchanged. Furthermore, events that lead to other events could be the result for one to meet their fate. In “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles expresses the nature of fate to be determined upon choices made.
A hero/ heroine is described as the principal male/ female character in a literary or dramatic work or the central figure in an event, period, or movement. The classic tragic hero was defined by Aristotle in the fourth century as, “someone who is highly renowned and prosperous” (LATWP, 639), suggesting that there is a “natural right ordering and proportion of traits within the human being that if violated, produces calamity” (LATWP, 639). The book goes on to define classical tragedy as one that “involves the inevitable destruction of a noble person by means of character flaw, usually a disproportionate measure of a specific human attribute such as pride, jealousy or indecision” (LATWP, 639).
“Tragedy is an imitation of an action of high importance . . .” states Aristotle in his book Poetics (as cited in Kennedy & Gioia, 2010). Without a doubt, he observed and analyzed countless plays throughout his life and in Poetics, he writes a broad description of what a tragedy should contain (Kennedy & Gioia). Specifically, to Aristotle, tragedies require a “Tragic Hero.” What makes this literary character unique from the other heroes of literature? The most obvious and central difference is that the hero in question always experiences a disastrous reversal of fortune, which follows the recognition of a previously unknown truth (Kennedy & Gioia). He must be “a man not preeminently virtuous or just” (Poetics part XIII, trans. 1909), yet he still must be a “good person” whom the audience grows to respect and because of this, deeply pities and fears for throughout the play (Poetics part XIII). Despite being a person of high estate and influence, surprisingly, the hero in the Greek tragedy is someone we can relate to in his humanness. Furthermore, his fall “from happiness into misery” is “brought upon him not by vice or depravity but by some error of judgment” (Poetics part XIII)—his hamartia. The Oxford English Dictionary translates this Greek word as, “The fault or error, which entails the destruction of the tragic hero” (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989).
Aristotle sees tragedy of being made of pity and fear. When tragedies occur in people’s lives it appears fear and pity is always an accompanying trait. Aristotle finds these two emotions to be staples in creating the perfect tragedy play. A tragic hero is the direct spawn of creating a tragic play.
In Ancient Greece the existence of gods and fate prevailed. In the Greek tragedy King Oedipus by the playwright Sophocles these topics are heavily involved. We receive a clear insight into their roles in the play such as they both control man's actions and that challenging their authority leads to a fall.
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.
Aristotle defines a tragic hero as "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake." When Aristotle states “a great man” the hero is neither a villain nor a perfect citizen, but is basically good and decent in his nature. The mistake that is mentioned is some moral blindness or error that is his/her downfall. Also not that the God’s are also in some sense responsible for this hero’s mistake and inevitability of his downfall. Also when it comes to a tragic hero, Aristotle states that three main things happen to draw the audience to the character.
In Oedipus Rex, fate is something that unavoidably befalls two characters. The gods decide Oedipus and Jocasta’s fate even before they know it. Trying to avoid destiny is pointless because no matter what, it will catch up to you where ever you are. It is often thought that you can change your destiny, but in reality our fate was put into action the day we were born.