Oedipus the King by Sophocles

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Oedipus the King, a tragedy which was written by the ancient greek dramatist Sophocles, is often referred to as the perfect tragedy (McManus, 1999). According to Aristotle in his Poetics, in order for a story to be considered a tragedy, it must be realistic, evoke a series of emotions leading to catharsis, which is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions”. A tragedy should also contain six key elements: Plot, Character, Thought, Diction, Melody, and Spectacle (McManus, 1999). A tragic hero, which is defined by Aristotle as a protagonist who is doomed not because they are evil but by some error in judgement on their part, is also necessary for a tragedy (Aristotle, n.d.). In the case of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, that tragic hero is Oedipus. This essay will begin by summarising the play and then go on to expand on the literary elements of the play which have earned it worthy recognition as one of the greatest tragedies ever written.
The play opens with the news of a terrible plague that has besieged Thebes being brought to the attention of King Oedipus. However, the King was already aware and had made arrangements for his brother-in-law, Creon, to seek the help of the gods in finding a solution. Creon returns to inform Oedipus that the only way the plague will cease is if the murderer of the late King Laius is brought to justice (Sophocles, 1912). King Oedipus then takes it upon himself to seek out the murderer and consequently put an end to the plague. In order to locate and prosecute the murderer, Oedipus questions a number of citizens concerning the situation, one of which happens to be Teiresias, the blind prophet, who informs Oed...

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...er. N.p., 2000. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
Burrill, Edgar W. "Heredity as Fate in Greek and Elizabethan Drama." Heredity as Fate in Greek and Elizabethan Drama 19.4 (1920): 486-509. JSTOR. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Campbell, Mike. "Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Oedipus." Behind the Name. N.p., 1996. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
"Catharsis." Def. 1. Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1997. Print.
Fawcett, Edgar. "Oedipus and the Sphinx." The North American Review 175.553 (1902): 871-76. JSTOR. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
McManus, Barbara F. "Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy." Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy. N.p., Nov. 1999. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.
Sophocles. Oedipus the King - Sophocles (eBook). Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1912. PDF.
Wright, John H. "Studies in Sophocles." Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 12 (1901): 137-64. JSTOR. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

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