Catharsis In Oedipus The King

The fundamentals that make Oedipus the King an “Aristotelian tragedy” revolve around the key notions of harmartia, peripety, anagnorisis and catharsis. However, to fully understand these key notions, one must understand what Aristotle defines as a tragedy. In Aristotle’s words, “A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions” (Aristotle). Simply put, a play must deal with and resolve a very serious issue. In the case of Oedipus the King, Sophocles portrays the perfect “Aristotelian tragedy” by delving into

Therefore, when the people plead for their suffering to disappear, Oedipus must do something. At this point, Creon tells Oedipus that the people suffer from the plague because of the murder of King Laius and the resulting religious pollution. The first task in finding the murderer stands that Oedipus meet with Teiresias, a blind prophet/seer. However, Oedipus, impeded by his ignorant behavior, questions the prophet in an arrogant way. He demands of Teiresias, “Was it at home, or in the field, or else / In some strange land that Laius met his doom” (Sophocles 118-9)? Teiresias, in response, says that the murderer of Laius is “an alien sojourner, but in truth/A home-born Theban” (Sophocles 478-9). Nevertheless, in a fit of impulse and passion, Teiresias declares Oedipus the murderer. Of course, Oedipus adamantly denies this accusation, as well as all of the other information Teiresias supplies him. This ignorance appears frequently and proves to be Oedipus’ hamartia, or fatal flaw leading to his ultimate downfall. Furthermore, this ignorance, combined with a melodic rhythm and theatrics, allows for the Sophocles to fulfill the second and third components of an “Aristotelian tragedy”: “in appropriate and pleasurable language;... in a dramatic rather than narrative form” (Aristotle) in Oedipus the

Despite the many attempts that King Laius, Queen Jocasta and Oedipus himself make to deceive fate, the truth reveals itself and destroys those in its path: Queen Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus blinds himself. Both stand to be very serious and irreversible actions that act as a form of catharsis, or purging/cleansing of strong or repressed emotions, and that arouse pity and fear not only among the characters, but also among the audience. The choices that Jocasta and Oedipus make reflect greatly upon their characters. Jocasta commits suicide because she fears living with her actions, while Oedipus blind himself because he fears being able to see physically when his eyesight was of no use beforehand. Yet, Oedipus chooses to live, saying, “For thou escap’st me not, I know thee well; / Though all is dark, I still can hear thy voice” (Sophocles 1381-2). The catharsis of emotions, as described by Sophocles, follows the fifth and final component: “wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions”