Although written after Sophocles crafted The Oedipus Trilogy, Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero fits perfectly with Oedipus. Aristotle, refers to tragic hero’s as those who are born of a noble birth and are fated by the Gods to doom and destruction. The tragic drama involves choices of free will and results in a paradox of whether if fate or free will is responsible for the suffering in the tragic hero’s life. The hero struggles against their fate, which leads to the drama of the downfall and the self-realization of their own self. Oedipus embodies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, as he struggles with his own fate, and is blind to his own self with his impulsive search for the truth.
Sophocles's Oedipus, shows that the combination
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of certain flaws and other human characteristics can have a tragic outcome. Every tragic hero defined by Aristotle, has hamartia, a flaw or error of judgement, which leads to chain of events towards the downfall the hero.
Oedipus exemplifies this with his efforts to find Laius's murder, even though this leads him to his doom. It is exactly this bad decision to which he he is blind to his own doing, due to his tragic flaws. Aristotle also defined a tragic hero as having the character's flaw result from something that is also a central part of their virtue, which is Oedipus’ intelligence. Consequently, this need for knowledge pushes Oedipus to discover the truth. His intelligence directly influences his pride and arrogance, as he believes that he would have never been out-wit by the gods. A Tragic hero also usually possess hubris, or excessive pride. Arrogance and pride virtues also play a role in his fall. Oedipus cannot accept the foretelling about his fate, due to his excessive pride. For this reason, Oedipus rejects the idea that gods are in control of the lives of humans, and fate all together. This is evidence or his excessive pride and ego, as he believes that he cheat the gods. Oedipus commands information, however damaging it be, because he believes he can handle the truth. “Did you rise to the crisis? Not a word, you and your birds, your gods—nothing. No, but I came by, Oedipus the ignorant, I
stopped the Sphinx! With no help from the birds, the flight of my own intelligence hit the mark.” (449-453; Fagles). This further proves, Oedipus’ flaw of pride. Though Tiresias, his wife, and the oracle try to convince him to stop the search, Oedipus continues and is destroyed by the revelation. Oedipus’ exemplifies a perfect example of Aristotle's view of tragic heroes, as his own personal virtue he and others respected, his pride and intelligence lead to his downfall. Oedipus is arrogant enough to think that he can solve the riddle and find the murderer by himself, but the irony is that he himself is the murderer. He wants to untangle the puzzle, but instead he pulls apart his own security and life. In all likelihood, a tragic hero, as Aristotle intended, is a combination of good intentions, pursuit of an ideal, with personal costs. A Tragic hero must bring out certain responses from the audience, in order to label him as a tragic hero. Oedipus nobility and intelligence provide his first key to success as a tragic hero. The audience must respect them as a bigger and better version of themselves, because the hero needs to be a powerful or noble person, in order for the audience to feel pity when the downfall occurs. In the beginning, a Oedipus was not morally better or worse than people, which allows the audience to connect with them. Oedipus strikes a balance between imperfection and perfection. For example, if Oedipus was solely imperfect and evil, the audience would feel no pity. A tragic hero must possess pity from the audience, in order to define he as a tragic hero. Oedipus embodies pity because he does not possess the intellectual superiority above the gods he thinks he does. Though the audience knows this, Oedipus does not. Oedipus’ flaw of pride is within himself, hence the audience fears for Oedipus because nothing he does can change the tragedy's outcome. Oedipus was powerless to a fight his prophecy, but the audience feels pity towards this because Oedipus thought it was the morally right action to take. By blinding himself, the audience also has a great amount of pity, as he was blind to his own actions. This irony helps form Oedipus as a tragic hero. In a way, Oedipus is already dead, since he receives no does not receive anything from living. But, his suffering cannot end. His dynamic character allows him to emotionally bond with the audience, while his punishment elicits greater compassion from the audience. The last feeling the audience should feel during the aftermath of a downfall of a tragic hero is self-realization. The feeling of fear from Oedipus’ downfall is the realization that a failure could happen to them. Oedipus represents a symbol of someone trying to escape their destiny. The audience feels fear because they make efforts everyday to try to escape harm and misfortune by making conscious decisions. Though, in Oedipus’ life, the audience, realizes that themselves as well as Oedipus are helpless to their destiny.
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.
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.
Tragic heroes are heroes of a story with a trait or flaw that ultimately leads to their downfall. In the play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, Oedipus, the protagonist of the story, shows many examples of his pride and how his pride causes tragic events to take place. His many prideful moments in the play such as, the altercation with his father and Oedipus believing that the prophet was lying so Tiresias and Creon could take the throne. Consequently, Oedipus’ pride is ultimately the cause of his downfall and dethroning.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
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
Even though "fate" seems to determine Oedipus' life, he does, in fact, have a free will.
A common debate that still rages today is whether we as a species have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. The same debate applies to Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. Does Oedipus control his actions, or are they predetermined by the gods? It’s that question that makes Oedipus a classic, and many different people think many different things.
Oedipus is a hero, as defined by Johnston. According to Johnston, ‘a hero is someone who confronts fate in a very personal manner and whose reaction to that encounter serves to illuminate for us our own particular condition’ (Johnston, Part 2). Oedipus definitely confronts fate in a personal manner. Among other things, he challenges the mysterious qualities of fate by pursuing the Shepherd despite warnings from Jocasta (Sophocles, 71). Oedipus follows through on confronting fate with his individual approach of uncompromising persistence and integrity (Johnston, Part 3). Even at the end of his downfall, Oedipus maintains that Kreon should banish him and that he must obey the curses he himself ordered for the murderer of King Laios (Sophocles, 89-90). Despite being so broken and publicly shamed, Oedipus still persists with his former way of interacting with fate : noble defiance (Johnston, Part 3). Although this quality itself is admirable, Oedipus takes uncompromising to the extreme, losing insight on everything else. Oedipus becomes ignorant to his surroundings, leading to his downfall (Johnston, Part 3). Oedipus’ story also challenges the fundamental belief that life should be rational and just. (Johnston, Part 3) His story illuminates that fate is arbitrarily cruel and will sometimes pick the gre...
Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of a man who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The story continues in the tradition of classic Greek plays, which were based upon the Greeks’ beliefs at the time. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods decided what would ultimately happen to each and every person. Since those gods destined Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus’ life was definitely fated. However, the gods only decided where Oedipus’ life would eventually lead; they never planned the route he would take to get there. All the decisions that Oedipus made in order to fulfill his destiny, and the decisions he made after the fact, were of his own free will, and were largely shaped by his mien.
In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles’ most popular plays, Sophocles clearly depicts the Greek’s popular belief that fate will control a man’s life despite of man’s free will. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays an integral part in Oedipus' destruction.
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.
Manpreet Sindhar Mr. Forbes ENG-4U0 Monday, July 6, 2015 Fate vs Free Will Many individuals say that destiny controls the lives of everyday people similar to us, but there is a countless number of people that argue that there is a higher power that controls our lives. In the play ‘’Oedipus the King’’ by Sophocles destiny played a critical role in the lives of the characters. To keep away from their fated destiny, the characters took safety measures to avert their foreordained fates. Beginning with the prophecy further going to Oedipus lastly the Queen otherwise called Jocasta they only proved that you can not outrun or escape your fate.
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.