ARISTOTLE'S THEORY OF THE TRAGIC HERO IS A LITERARY THEORY THAT SERVES AS A TOOL FOR ANALYSING GREEK TRAGEDY. USE ARISTOTLE'S FIVE STEPS TO ANALYSE OEDIPUS REX. MAKE SURE YOU SUPPORT YOUR CLAIMS WITH EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT.
PARAGRAPH ONE: Hamartia, or the first step in Aristotle's theory of the tragic hero, is that the play must demonstrate a flaw or error of judgement. The play offers an illustration of "hamartia" throughout its prose, as at the beginning of the play, Oedipus thinks he is free of guilt. However, his rash anger led to him unknowingly kill his real father, King Lauis, at the crossroads. The murder of Oedipus' father is one of the essential links in his downfall, which indicates that his anger is a very important
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In Greek tragedy plays that follow the Aristotle created and presented in his Poetics, more often than not, the person who is asking the question is the answer. This is the reversal of fortune, brought about because of the hero's error in judgement. The reversal of fortune in Oedipus is revealed at the beginning of the play, he unknowingly is the cause of the plague crisis in Thebes, and is dragged into it personally because he takes it with a lot of personal concern and brings it upon himself, he says that it is “for [his] own sake.” His determination towards the problem engages him personally and it threatens his rule over the kingdom, and as the audience refers back to this point of the play, we feel that that was the first turning point in his life. After the blind prophet Teiresias charges Oedipus with murder, the king precedes into an investigation much fuelled by his anger, in which he discovers another turning point, where Oedipus discovers that Polybos is not his father. Ultimately, this leads to the formerly happy and successful king becoming emotionally distraught, further implicatred by his determination to know the truth, as when the shepherd tells that Oeidpus himself is the sinful one who married his mother and killed his father, the king that was admired and loved by so many becomes a tragic, miserable, and abominable character. This collapses all the vision and mission of the great king who was heretofore committed for avoiding evil and doing well, for finding the truth and helping the people, for living a happy and successful life with the help of his
In the play, Oedipus the King, blindness is used metaphorically and physically to characterize several personas , and the images of clarity and vision are used as symbols for knowledge and insight. Enlightenment and darkness are used in much the same manner, to demonstrate the darkness of ignorance, and the irony of vision without sight.
Undoubtedly there has been a tremendous amount of speculation and dissection of this play by countless people throughout the ages. I can only draw my own conclusions as to what Sophocles intended the meaning of his play to be. The drama included a number of horrific and unthinkable moral and ethical dilemas, but I believe that was what made the play so interesting and that is exactly the way Sophocles intended it to be. The play was obviously meant to entertain and portray the author’s own insight. The underlying theme to the play is that no man should know his own destiny, it will become his undoing. This knowledge of things to come was presented to both Laius and Oedipus in the form of prophecies well in advance of it coming to be. The prophecies told of things that were so morally disturbing that they both aggressively did everything in their power to try and stop them from coming true. The story begins with Oedipus at the height of power as King of Thebes. His kingdom has encountered rough times and he has sent his nobleman Creon to seek help from the god Apollo to restore his land. Creon tells Oedipus that he must find the murderer of the previous King Laius and by finding this man and banishing him, his land will be restored. The murder occurred some time ago and King Oedipus sends for the seer Theiresias with his powers of prophecy to aid in the search for the murderer. Sophocles cleverly projects his feelings on wisdom and knowledge through Teirsias when he says “Alas, how terrible is wisdom when it brings no profit to the man that’s wise!”(23) Teirsias knows that this terrible prophecy has already been set into motion and the damage has already been done. There is really no point in telling it to Oedipus because it will only cause more harm than good. Oedipus provokes Teirsias into telling him the prophecy, “ Í tell you, king, this man, this murderer-he is here. In name he is a stranger among citizens but soon he will be shown to be a citizen true native Theban, and he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way befor him with a stick.
Aristotle's rules of a tragedy state that the character of a tragedy should be good but not exceptionally amazing, he must not be a perfect character but instead they need to be the victim of a common flaw which is called 'Hamartia'. The idea that even the protagonist of a story can have a tragic flaw allows for the reader to have a stronger connection to the story and as a result it would be better interpreted by them their own way. In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles the Hamartia displayed by Oedipus is that he makes very rash decisions without thinking of the consequences and this negatively his life and the people around him. Firstly the characters in the play are blinded by their pride and ambition, the Greek word for this is Hubris and it often shows protagonists who do not accept their reality and overestimate their own capabilities and this is most common in characters in positions of power. This pride and ambition is what makes people blind when making their decisions and they regret it in the future proving that it is better to think before acting. Furthermore, when one tries to alter fate by making decisions that go against it they turn out to be decisions that in reality will negatively impact them instead of changing their fate for the better. The play Oedipus the King is still relevant to today's society because of the demonstration of the effects of rash decision making, reminding us that it is better to think before acting. Throughout the play the character are used to send a message to the audience that decisions that are made without thinking always lead to negative outcomes.
Many times humans do things that contradict another thing they do. An example of this is one thing may be good but also bad at the same time. A person who has done this more then once is Oedipus in the writer Sophocles plays. Sophocles uses imagery like light verses darkness, knowledge verses ignorance and sight verses blindness.
The philosopher Aristotle was a highly intellectual man who loved to reason. One of his ideas was his structured analysis of the “tragic hero” of Greek drama. In his work, Poetics, he defines a tragic hero as “...The man who on the one hand is not pre-eminent in virtue and justice, and yet on the other hand does not fall into misfortune through vice or depravity, but falls because of some mistake; one among the number of the highly renowned and prosperous.”
“We are most unwilling to accept mystery, what cannot be reduced to other and more intelligible forms. Yet that is what we find here: something irreducible, therefore perpetually to be interpreted; not secrets to be found out one by one, but secrecy” (Kermode 143). In the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, we see the difference between secrets and secrecy that Kermode talks about. In the play we see that those who pursue the truth, corrupt the uncovering of the hidden unknown with their assumptions and perceptions. When confronted with the mystery of Oedipus’s past, both the reader and Oedipus seek the truth, but come to a resolution that is tainted with their supposition rather than the truth. Oedipus and the reader evince the innate illusion of human thinking when encountering secrecy: forcing ones own preconception onto the truth. Through reading the play Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, the reader can determine that seeking the answers to secrets with the basis of human reasoning induces the resentment of secrecy: no truth stands today that has not been corrupted with some part of self-assumption.
Oedipus has a "tragic flaw" that leads to his demise, and efforts to attribute one to him to him seem forced . In his quest to uncover the truth and rid Thebes of the plague, he exhibits all the heroic qualities that made him the savior of Thebes during the Sphinx's reign of terror. Oedipus as a victim of a fate he could not control. He had enormous control over the events of his "destiny" through the numerous decisions he makes. He chooses to believe the oracle and leave Corinth.
Of all the tragedies that Greek playwright Sophocles created in his illustrious career, the one that stands out as his masterpiece, and quite possibly one of the greatest of all the Greek tragedies is Oedipus the King. The tragedy focuses on the life and downfall of the unfortunate King Oedipus, who was condemned by the oracle at an early age to murder his father and marry his mother. Despite the oracle’s grim prediction, Oedipus was responsible for his own downfall due to his overly proud and impetuous attitude, and his own intellect and diligence.
Oedipus Rex”, by Socrates, is a play that shows the fault of men and the ultimate power of the gods. Throughout the play, the main character, Oedipus, continually failed to recognize the fault in human condition, and these failures let to his ultimate demise. Oedipus failed to realize that he, himself was the true answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus ignored the truth told to him by the oracles and the drunk at the party, also. These attempts to get around his fate which was determined by the gods was his biggest mistake. Oedipus was filled with hubris and this angered the gods. He believed he was more that a man. These beliefs cause him to ignore the limits he had in being a man. Oedipus needed to look at Teiresias as his window to his future.
"In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later." (Tiffany 410). This quotes is said by a very famous business man and it is used as an opening statement for a chapter in the book, “Business for Dummies.”
When it comes to the history of drama Sophocles’ Oedipus is the king of all tragic heroes. From killing his own father and marring his own mother Oedipus’s tragic downfall leaves the reader emotionally scarred for life. Yet he still holds on to his morality and prevails past it all. Famous Greek philosopher Aristotle defines what a tragic hero is and Oedipus fits it perfectly. Oedipus is a true embodiment of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through his ability to preserve his virtue and wisdom, despite his flaws and predicament.
Oedipus is depicted as a “marionette in the hands of a daemonic power”(pg150), but like all tragic hero’s he fights and struggles against fate even when the odds are against him. His most tragic flaw is his morality, as he struggles between the good and the evil of his life. The good is that he was pitied by the Shepard who saved him from death as a baby. The evil is his fate, where he is to kill his father and marry his mother. His hubris or excessive pride and self-righteousness are the lead causes to his downfall. Oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes. This Aristotelian theory of tragedy exists today, as an example of what happens when men and women that fall from high positions politically and socially.
Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. Sophocles's tragedy represents a monumental theatrical and interpretative challenge. Oedipus Rex is the story of a King of Thebes upon whom a hereditary curse is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of fate (tragic flaws or hamartia). In the play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.
In the end Oedipus is left with nothing. He is a blind man that is troubled for his actions and exiled from Thebes. His good fortune turns good to bad. He wishes he had died on the mountain and never been born. Aristotle concept of theory did comply with the tragedy of “Oedipus the King” of a tragic hero, hamarita, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and catharsis.
Oedipus the King is an excellent example of Aristotle's theory of tragedy. The play has the perfect Aristotelian tragic plot consisting of paripeteia, anagnorisis and catastrophe; it has the perfect tragic character that suffers from happiness to misery due to hamartia (tragic flaw) and the play evokes pity and fear that produces the tragic effect, catharsis (a purging of emotion).