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Oedipus the king by Sophocles analysis
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Aristotle and Arthur Miller viewed tragic downfalls in two different ways. For example, Aristotle believed that a tragedy should focus on a person of good morals, and that this person should also be a noble hero. This way the audience can admire the figure for his good morals, not because he is of a high status, so when he has his downfall, the audience will be met with great pity and a fear for ourselves since someone far more superior to us had such a horrible demise. And according to Aristotle, Oedipus the King was the best example of this. On the other hand, Arthur Miller thought that those characteristics do not make a good tragic figure because no one can relate to people of a high status. In modern times, we do not have kings or prophets,
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.
The qualities of a tragic hero as defined by Aristotle in 350 BC are: a tragic hero is a prominent member of the community, he/she has a tragic flaw (usually excessive hubris, or pride), he/she is basically good but experiences a tragic fall from his/her status in the community due to a bad decision. In Arthur Miller’s classic drama The Crucible, John Proctor is a good example of a tragic hero. He fits the criteria of a tragic hero. He is a prominent community member who has a tragic flaw that results in his tragic fall.
Some perceive Oedipus, in Oedipus the King, to be an evil villain, while others a completely innocent man who is plagued by fate. Sophocles, however, desired to portray Oedipus as a mix between the two- as a tragic hero. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus fits the criteria of a tragic hero.
Oedipus fits Aristotle's definition of the tragic flaw and protagonist almost flawlessly. Aristotle described the protagonist as "someone regarded as extraordinary rather than typical..."(1117). Oedipus freed Thebes from the Sphinx by solving her riddle-- something nobody else had been able to do. The priest in the first scene of Act I calls Oedipus "...our greatest power" (1121) and describes him as rated first among men.
Over time, history has given society many to whom we call true heroes. There are many reasons these heroes have been looked up to such as: bravery, dedication, confidence, and inspiration. However, a tragic hero requires a few different qualities. Aristotle describes a tragic hero as a “member of royalty,” someone who “must fall from tremendous good fortune,” and someone who creates pity for him or herself (“Connections: A Theory” 2000). In Greek drama, Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Medea both contain several possible tragic heroes including Medea, Jason, and Creon. More specifically, in Antigone Creon exemplifies the qualities of a tragic hero best due to his prominent power as king of Thebes, the way he holds strong to his stubborn pride, and the sympathy felt for him in his tragic downfall.
Hamlet. Romeo. Othello. These men not only star in some of Shakespeare’s finest plays, but they are all classic examples of tragic heroes. A tragic hero is one who is courageous and admired but who has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Othello was one of the greatest military men of the time. He was highly respected among his superiors for both his military prowess and level headed nature. This was a man who could be in the heat of a battle and would remain collected. Though this great hero also had great shortcomings. Othello was naive, jealous, and concerned with public appearance. Othello is truly a dynamic character. As the play continues and his jealous increases, Othello gradually changes from a flawless military general into
Oedipus from the drama, “Oedipus the King” and Hamlet from, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” are two characters that are different, yet they both share the same title of being a tragic hero. Oedipus and Hamlet have many characteristics of a tragic hero that separate them in variety. However, some of those characteristics show that both characters have and use similar thought processes and methods, which classify them as tragic heroes of their dramas. The five characteristics of a tragic hero are: nobility, tragic flaw, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and lastly irony. Both Oedipus and Hamlet hold or have a nobility position in their drama’s plot.
A tragic hero could be considered a "noble person with a fatal flaw" or "an opponent of society who is willing to take action that 'sensible people' might applaud
Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy. The problem with any tragedy definition is that most tragic plays do not define the tragedy conditions explained or outlined by Aristotle. According to Telford (1961), a tragedy is a literary work that describes the downfall of an honorable, main character who is involved on historically or socially significant events. The main character, or tragic hero, has a tragic fault, the quality that leads to his or her own destruction. In reading Aristotle’s point of view, a tragedy play is when the main character(s) are under enormous pressure and are incapable to see the dignities in human life, which Aristotle’s ideas of tragedy is based on Oedipus the King. Shakespeare had a different view of tragedy. In fact, Shakespeare believed tragedy is when the hero is simply and solely destroyed. Golden (1984) argued the structure of Shakespearean tragedy would be that individual characters revolved around some pain and misery.
Through out time tragedy has been occurring. It is seen in our everyday lives and has been portrayed in writings, plays, and movies and within those tragedies there is a tragic hero. When the word hero come to mind people tend to think of someone like Superman or Batman, someone courageous and has heroic quality, performing heroic deeds. But a tragic hero could not be farther from that. A tragic hero is usually someone of high status or a member of royalty. They have a tragic flaw or personal weakness that lead to their downfall. The idea of a tragic hero comes from ancient greek plays, which were developed from their religious stories. Many of these play were written by Sophocles; an ancient greek playwright. Sophocles’ work mostly consisted of tragedies, Aristotle - a Greek philosopher - observed Sophocles’ plays and defined tragedy and tragic hero. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the headstrong King Creon is the tragic hero. His stubbornness and his concern of what other think of him leads to his disgrace. Whereas in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare The honorable Brutus is the tragic hero. Brutus’ honesty and being overly trusting leads to his demise. In these two plays the tragic hero are very different, but they are both still considered tragic heros. They both have tragic flaws, but Brutus is still considered a integrable man inspite of his flaw, whereas Creon is considered to be dishonourable by his flaw. Both Brutus and Creon stood up for what they believed was but right but Brutus is the most tragic of the two.
There is no such thing as the perfect person. We may dream of such a person, but sadly, everyone has flaws. These flaws are what make us human. Something else that makes us human is our need for heroes. We attribute 'perfect' qualities to our heroes. In reality even our heroes are flawed. The closest thing to the idealized person, or hero, is the Shakespearean tragic hero. The tragic hero is someone of high standing, good character, and a flaw. While it may be only one flaw, it is often fatal. An example of a tragic hero can be best seen in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus is a prominent leader and noble citizen of Rome who leads in the assassination of Julius Caesar. We see that Brutus plays the role of the tragic hero through his noble standing, fatal flaw, and legacy.
On the other hand, another type of tragic hero exists, the modern tragic hero. This type of hero is a product of a clash between the individual and the social environment. Arthur Miller, the famous playwright said, “each person has a chosen image of self and position, tragedy results when the characters environment denies the fulfillment of this self concept.” (LATWP, 640). This is a contrast from Aristotle’s classic tragic hero because the hero is no longer born into nobility but gains stature in the action of pitting self against cosmos, and the tragedy becomes, “the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world.” (LATWP, 640).
Tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness but is triggered by some error and causes the hero’s downfall. Oedipus is the tragic hero of “Oedipus the king”. Oedipus has a noble stature and has greatness. From the beginning of the story Oedipus is shown as a noble caring man. He is greatly worried about the plague in Thebes “but my spirit grieves for the city, for myself and all of you” (75-76) he tell the priest and his people of Thebes. If Oedipus didn’t care for his kingdom, he wouldn’t have tried to seek out who was Laius murderer. Oedipus solves the riddle of the sphinx. By solving the riddle the people of Thebes respected Oedipus because he had saved the city from the sphinx. The priest prays to Oedipus rating him “first of men” (41). Solving the riddle of the sphinx “not knowing nothing, no skill, no extra knowledge”, (46-47) he triumphed. By solving the riddle Oedipus became grand and short tempered and these characteristics brought him to his downfall. He is too proud to see any truths and he refuses to believe that he killed Laius his own father and married his own mother Jocasta. Tiresias, the servant of Apollo, is being called a lair after he told Oedipus that he was the one that killed his father. Oedipus refuses to believe that he could have been responsible for such horrible crime. He tells Tiresias that “envy lurks inside you” (435) and he thinks Creon sent Tiresias to try and overthrow him. Oedipus just accus...
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.
...hough the two demonstrate the elements in different ways, they both achieve an effective tragedy. Now after learning about Aristotle’s philosophy on tragedy, one can examine any type of tragic poetry, play, movie and analysis if the elements are portrayed. Its interesting to see how much of Aristotle’s philosophy has effected poetry in the art of the Greek tragedy, Medea, and the modern movie, No Country for Old Men.