Oedipus the King: A Tragic Hero

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In keeping with the Aristotelian concept of tragedy, Agamemnon is seen as neither entirely good nor entirely bad, thus invoking pity. But his decision to sacrifice his daughter for the good of his fleet and his acts against Thyestes demonstrates the fatal error in judgem... ... middle of paper ... ... influence over the events of the tragedy. Similarly, in Hamlet, the other characters are much more complex than in Greek tragedies, and the interactions of the characters, which may represent their communities as a whole, greatly impact the eventual outcome. From Agamemnon to Hamlet, we have discovered the progression of the form of dramatic tragedy. We can see the evolution from the earlier Greek tragedies, that focus on divine intervention and vindication for acts that displeased the gods, to the very humanly emotional Hamlet, whose eventual realization of his own responsibilities introduce an entirely new concept to the tragic form.

But as Lois Kerschen says, “Shakespeare may have altered the classic form of the Greek tragedy, but that does not mean he totally ignored the Greek formula”(261). It is his strong emphasis on certain elements that prove his case. Shakespeare’s contribution of harmatia, catharsis, and anagnorisis to Romeo and Juliet prove the story to be a true Aristotelean tragedy. The final tragic moment in the story serves as an inevitable consequence of character flaws. One of Shakespeare’s most palpable tragic elements in this play is harmatia.

Fate was extremely important for the Greeks because it related directly from the gods, the most powerful aspect of their existence. As a typical tragic hero, Oedipus has doomed himself to have a fatal fate by his consistent efforts to avoid his fate and also because of the human side in him that tried to protect him from it. Eventually, Oedipus could not escape what the Gods had written in time for his life. This paper will try to prove this statement by looking at Oedipus as the tragic hero and the representation of the concept of fate in Oedipus Tyrannos by looking at Oedipus. In typical Greek tragedy, the main character to whom the story is about and relates to is the tragic hero.

The time period of Greek theater’s popularity was a very influential time in our world’s history. Without knowing what Greek theater was all about, how can someone expect to truly understand a tragic play and the history it comes with? The history behind the character of Oedipus, in the play Oedipus the King, is very complicated. His intricate past dealing with prophecies, family members, and murder is the main focus of the story. There are many characteristics that complete Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero; these being the presence of hamartia and peripeteia, a sense of self-awareness, the audience’s pity for the character, and the hero is of noble birth.