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Oedipus the king play essay analysis
Analysis of oedipus tragedy
Analysis of oedipus tragedy
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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.
Being part of a royal family was the first qualification of being a tragic hero, according to Aristotle. Oedipus was originally born into a royal family. He was the son of Lauis and Jocasta, who were the king and queen of Thebes. After he was born, a prophet told his father that Oedipus would eventually rise up and kill his father. No wanting to take the risk of being killed, Lauis bound Oedipus’s feet with shackles and threw him out into the wilderness to either be adopted or to die. He thought that by getting rid of his son, that the prophecy would not be fulfilled. Oedipus ended up being adopted by the ki...
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Oedipus is a tragic hero being that he was a king who had a high position in his community to a person who wished to be released from the city forever. Oedipus says " Cast me out as quickly as you can, away from Thebes, to a place where no one, no living human being, will cross my path" (Sophocles ll. 1697-1699). Oedipus was once a person who citizens looked to for answers to problems, and a person who had control over a whole city. To a person who wished to be banished from a new king of Thebes. The use of tragic hero in the story shows a slow slope of not only his position as king, but a man who loses his family and gains information about his real identity. Sending him to his
The Greek tragedy Oedipus at Colonus was written by the renowned Greek playwright Sophocles at around 404 B.C.. In the play, considered to be one of the best Greek dramas ever written, Sophocles uses the now broken down and old Oedipus as a statement of hope for man. As Oedipus was royalty and honor before his exile from his kingdom of Thebes he is brought down to a poor, blind old man who wonders, “Who will receive the wandering Oedipus today?” (Sophocles 283) most of the time of his life that is now as low as a peasant’s. Although former ruler of Thebes has been blinded and desecrated to the point where he is a beggar, he will not give up on his life and on the life of his two daughters Antigone and Ismene, and his two sons Eteocles and Polynieces who were supposed to help their sorrowful father like true sons and true men but instead they “tend the hearth like girls.”(304). Yet Oedipus still gives praise to those who have helped him, his daughters Antigone and Ismene, although he has no sight, is poor, and his life is of no meaning to him, he recognizes honor and loyalty when he sees it:
Throughout Antigone, Electra, and Medea, many double standards between men and women surface. These become obvious when one selects a hero from these plays, for upon choosing, then one must rationalize his or her choice. The question then arises as to what characteristics make up the hero. How does the character win fame? What exactly is excellent about that character? These questions must be answered in order to choose a hero in these Greek tragedies.
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After reading the play Oedipus by Sophocles and noting that Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is someone of high estate who has a fatal flaw and falls from their lofty position. (Kennedy and Gioia 856) I felt compelled to write about Oedipus because he seems to exemplify Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus is the perfect example of a tragic hero because he is a noble of high estate and has a fatal flaw of Arrogance and pride.
Woodard, Thomas. Introduction. In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Woodard, Thomas. Introduction. In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodard. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966.
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 1902.
Sophocles. Four Plays by Sophocles. Trans. Thomas H. Banks. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.
The ineffaceable impression which Sophocles makes on us today and his imperishable position in the literature of the world are both due to his character-drawing. If we ask which of the men and women ofGreek tragedy have an independent life in the imagination apart from the stage and from the actual plot in which they appear, we must answer, ‘those created by Sophocles, above all others’ (36).
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.