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Interpretations of Aristotle's definition of tragedy
Interpretations of Aristotle's definition of tragedy
Aristotle's explanation of tragedy
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Regardless of the subject matter of a Greek Tragedy, the plot of the play brings up emotions like sympathy and dread within the audience. Iphigenia Among the Taurians is a tragedy written by Euripides in the early 400’s BC that follows the family of Orestes. While Iphigenia Among the Taurians is considered within the genre of ancient tragedy, the play may not be the first example someone might conjure up since the main conflict is resolved and the story ends with Iphigenia and her brother Orestes successfully escaping the barbarians to go home to Greece. However, despite the non-traditional ending for a tragedy, Iphigenia Among the Taurians still manages to be classified as a tragedy by Aristotle’s standards. His definition focuses on the plot of the story as the means of classification, not the actual outcome. The components of the plot he requires is reversal, recognitions, and suffering, and these elements in turn create the pity and fear that the audience feels. Regardless of the resolved ending, the plot of Iphigenia Among the Taurians satisfies Aristotle’s requirements through the relationship between the siblings Iphigenia and Orestes. Aristotle’s Poetics is a written work that generates a loose standard for tragedy and also creates a solid definition to produce a …show more content…
While this play might not seem like an ideal tragedy because everything is resolved at the end, it satisfies the crucial guidelines regarding the components of the plot and the emotional requirement for pity and fear. Poetics focuses on the substance within the plot of the play instead of the outcome of the character’s actions during the plot. So despite the resolution of the play and because of the plot, Euripides’ Iphigenia Among the Taurians can be regarded within the genre of tragedy on account of Aristotle’s definition in
Many definitions exist for the genres of “tragedy” and “melodrama.” Similar to the distinction between fruits and vegetables, most can tell the two apart but have difficulty describing why. However, some definitions require a deeper look into a work, such as the interpretation provided by Anouilh’s movie version of “Antigone.” Whether or not Sophocles’s “Oedipus Rex” is a tragedy or melodrama has been debated since the teachings of Aristotle and strong arguments have been made for both sides. “Tragedy,” as defined by Anouilh, takes on a lifelike form, putting a new twist on an old definition that requires one to take a different perspective on the play. Though at a superficial level “Oedipus Rex” is a tragedy, its details point it towards the direction of a melodrama.
We must learn the history of the early stages of Greek Tragedy and understand the concept of what makes a tragedy an emotional rollercoaster, for at the end of the tragedy we want to feel pure and cleansed of all bad emotions we possess in our minds. This leads us to psychological enlightenment, so passing through the mind we will encounter many terms needing to be defined by us. Allowing
The intent of this paper is to discuss Seneca’s Hercules Furens in relation to Aristotle’s description of tragedy as outlined in the Poetics. It begins by discussing character, and attempts to determine the nature of Hercules’ error (a(marti/a).1[1] The paper then discusses matters of plot (mu~qoj), attempting to determine the degree to which Hercules Furens meets Aristotle’s requirements for good tragedy in this regard.
Aristotle (c. 384 B.C. to 322 B.C.) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. He is considered one of the greatest minds in politics, psychology, and ethics. Poetics is a scientific study of writing and poetry where Aristotle observes, analyzes and defines mostly tragedy and epic poetry. In Aristotle's' Poetics, Aristotle defines tragedy as "imitation of an action that is serious and as having magnitude, complete in itself (Grub, 1958)." He continues, "Tragedy is a form of drama exciting the emotions of pity and fear". The tragic hero is a character whose downfall and or destruction is consummated by their error in judgment (hamartia). He has a reversal in fortune because of their error in judgment (peripeteia). The tragic hero recognizing the truth, that his reversal in fortune is his fault because of his actions (anagnorisis). The tragic hero is excessively prideful (hubris), yet his fate is greater than deserved (Grube, 1958). The hero must be identifiable, believable, not good or bad with some type of superiority, and overpowering individuality (a nobleman, prince, or person of high estate). The tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy in drama, most famous of these
Euripides' characterization of women is considered unique in the play Medea because the tragic Hero/ine - in this case Jason and Medea in each one's own sense - is done over by a woman after cheating on her with the princess of the King of Corinth. He places emphasis on human emotions and individual psychology in order to help the reader produce a clear picture of the characters. Medea features strong dramatic situations and a stirring part for the heroine, whose attitude of feminine pride and tradition is still popular in today's world.
This paper aims to study two significant playwrights, Sophocles and Euripides, and compare their respective attitudes by examining their plays in respect to plot and character structures. To achieve this goal, the paper is organized into two main sections. In the first section, we provide a brief biography of both Sophocles and Euripides. The second and last section includes summaries of Sophocles’ Electra and Euripides’ Electra which were based on same essentials and give an opportunity to observe the differences of the playwrights. This section also includes the comparisons that are made by our observations about the plays.
The fundamentals that make Oedipus the King an “Aristotelian tragedy” revolve around the key notions of harmartia, peripety, anagnorisis and catharsis. However, to fully understand these key notions, one must understand what Aristotle defines as a tragedy. In Aristotle’s words, “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions” (Aristotle). Simply put, a play must deal with and resolve a very serious issue. In the case of Oedipus the King, Sophocles portrays the perfect “Aristotelian tragedy” by delving into
During the Ancient Greek period, Aristotle, a great philosopher, wrote a book called the Poetics to describe what makes a great tragic play. Using the Oedipus Rex by Sophocles as the basis for his book, Aristotle goes into great detail about plot, character, and much more, breaking up the components of a tragedy. Since Oedipus Rex had a huge part in the creation of Aristotle’s book, it fulfills many of the Greek philosopher’s requirements for a tragic play.
Greek drama also puts the individual against a part of themselves. It convinces us to admire the person who contributes to his to her own destruction. Greek drama focuses on the eternal question “How must one live in a world of suffering, how can one act freely in a world circumscribed by limitations of self and fate?”
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.
In Aristotle’s book, Poetics, he defines tragedy as, “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and possessing magnitude; in embellished language, each kind of which is used separately in the different parts; in the mode of action and not narrated; and effecting through pity and fear” (Aristotle 1149). Tragedy creates a cause and effect chain of actions that clearly gives the audience ideas of possible events. The six parts to Aristotle’s elements of tragedy are: Plot, character, language, thought, spectacle, and melody. According to Aristotle, the most important element is the plot. Aristotle writes in Poetics that, “It is not for the purpose of presenting their characters that the agents engage in action, but rather it is for the sake of their actions that they take on the characters they have” (Aristotle 1150). Plots should have a beginning, middle, and end that have a unity of actions throughout the play making it complete. In addition, the plot should be complex making it an effective tragedy. The second most important element is character. Characters...
Aristotle, the great philosopher who lived from 384 B.C. - 322 B.C. in ancient Greece, defined a tragedy as “a drama treating a serious subject and involving persons of significance.” (1062) According to Aristotle, the protagonist of a tragedy (the “tragic hero”) required three basic characteristics. Firstly he or she must be deemed worthy via an exalted status and/or noble qualities. Secondly he or she must have a tragic flaw (hamartia) that leads to his or her downfall and finally a tragic hero must experience a downfall and recognize the reasons for that downfall. The play “Oedipus the King”, written by the great ancient Greek tragic dramatist Sophocles in 430 B.C. was chosen by Aristotle as an ideal model to illustrate his definition of tragedy. The character Oedipus has all three of the necessary characteristics of a tragic hero and reveals that self-examination is the key to our ability to accept responsibility for our actions. When Oedipus finally sees the truth, he blinds and exiles himself as punishment which illustrates his understanding of why and acceptance of what he has done. From Oedipus the relationship between greatness and hubris, (exaggerated pride or self-confidence), is revealed; the same traits that make up heroic greatness, when taken to the extreme, lead to the tragic downfall of our hero.
To this day, Aristotle’s theory of tragedy is used to further dissect a literary work and its components. In order to be considered a tragedy, it must include six parts; those being plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. Plot is considered to be the most important since it is essentially the structure of the play. In a tragedy, plot is referred to as the tragic plot and it is considered to to be both single and complex. There are three steps in a tragic plot, reversal, recognition, and suffering. Ultimately, it is the cha...
In Poetics, Aristotle described the different elements of varied types of poetry, one being a tragedy. As Aristotle stated, the perfect tragedy must be complex, it must excite pity and fear, the main character must be very well-known and prosperous but yet they still have a flaw, and the change of fortune goes from good to bad. The famous play written by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, fits Aristotle’s definition of the perfect tragedy. The play excites pity among the audience, it contains a tragic hero with a tragic flaw, and this flaw brings down the tragic hero.
Plato is constantly intolerant of tragedy. This is due to the moral conflict it contains. Tragedy appeals to the emotions and destroys the moral fibre of the audience. They are affected in a way that they are able to sympathise with characters, and are able to `see why the protagonists come into irreconcilable conflict, or destroy themselves, without being able to reduce the outcome to a moral plus or min...