“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).
With this in mind, many believe that King Oedipus in Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, is the perfect example of Aristotle’s tragic hero. Does he, however, truly fulfill all the “requirements” described in Poetics or is there something we miss in the depths of his fascinating and multi-faceted character that does not fit into Aristotle’s template? Without a doubt, Oe...
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... death, a memory without pain” (Oedipus exodus. lines 297-300).
Works Cited
Dodds, E. R., (1966). On misunderstanding Oedipus. In Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D., Literature an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama and writing (6th ed.). (pp. 900-901). Boston: Pearson
Error. (n.d.). In Macmillan Dictionary. Retrieved December 14, 2011, from
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Hamartia. (1989). In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from
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Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2010). Literature an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama and
writing (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson
Knox, B. M. W. (1998). Oedipus at Thebes: Sophocles tragic hero and his time. Retrieved from
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Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Robert Fagles. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack et al. 6th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1992.
Dodds, E. R. "On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex: A Collection of Critical Essays.
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Trans. Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy. 5th ed. New York: Harper, 1991. 999-1039.
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.
Fitts, Dudley, and Robert Fitzerald. Sophocles: The Oedipus Cycle. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Com, 1977. Print.
Worthen, W. B. (2000). Oedipus the King. The Harcourt Brace anthology of drama (3rd ed., pp.
DiYanni, Robert, ed. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th Ed. New York: McGraw, 2008.
Boston: Pearson, 2013. 1396-1506. Print. The. Sophocles. “Oedipus the King” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.
Kennedy, X. J., & Gioia, D. (2013). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 9th ed. Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. 1365- 1433
Sophocles. “Oedipus Rex.” Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Robert DiYanni. 6th Ed. New York, 2007. 1307-1347. Print.
The myth of Oedipus is one of a man brought down by forces aligning against him. Over the years, different playwrights have interpreted his character in various fashions. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus is a man who is blind to the path on which his questions take him and exemplifies the typical tyrannical leader in ancient times; in Senaca’s Oedipus, it is the fear of his questions that give Oedipus a greater depth of character, a depth he must overcome if he is to survive his ordeal.
O’Brien, Micheal. “Introduction.” 20th Centruy Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Micheal O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 8-10. Print.
This essay seeks to explore the life of the flawed mythological person, Oedipus, as protagonist of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.
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.