The Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy: Oedipus the King
analytical Essay
1421 words
The Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy: Oedipus the King by Sophocles Works Cited Not Included 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). Oedipus the King has the ingredients necessary for the plot of a good tragedy, including the peripeteia. According to Aristotle, a peripeteia is necessary for a good plot. Peripeteia is "a reversal in his fortune from happiness to disaster" (Abrams 322). Oedipus's reversal of fortune occurs when he realizes that he is the son of Laius and Jocasta. The messenger comes to Oedipus assuming that he will relieve the King of the fear that he will kill his own father as predicted by the Oracle. But by revealing the secret that Oedipus is not who he thinks he is and he was found and he was given to his father Polybus, the messenger does the opposite. The messenger makes Oedipus more fearful instead and he reverses Oedipus' life. The Chorus says, "You are my great example, you, your life your destiny, Oedipus, man of misery - I count no man blest" (1318-20). The Chorus states that its idea of human happiness is now destroyed by Oedipus's reversal of fortune. According to Aristotle, anagnorisis is another important aspect of the plot of a tragedy. Anagnorisis is "the discovery of facts hitherto unknown to the hero" (Abrams 322). In Oedipus the Knig the anagnorisis came in pieces for Oedipus. It begins when Oedipus recognizes the area, "at a place where thr... ... middle of paper ... ...nd finds out the truth is almost over at this point. All the tension and mystery is gone. Oedipus reveals the truth and now the feeling of anxiety is replaced by grief and sorrow. This release of tension causes an overwhelming emotion, a relief of emotion that marks the catharsis. Oedipus the King by Sophocles has the ingredients necessary for a good Aristotelian tragedy. The play has the essential parts that form the plot, consisting of the peripeteia, anagnorisis and a catastrophe; which are all necessary for a good tragedy according to the Aristotelian notion. Oedipus is the perfect tragic protagonist, for his happiness changes to misery due to hamartia (an error). Oedipus also evokes both pity and fear in its audience, causing the audience to experience catharsis or a purging of emotion, which is the true test for any tragedy according to Aristotle.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus the knig's anagnorisis came in pieces for him. it begins when he recognizes the area where jocasta said laius was killed.
- Analyzes how the peripeteia and the anagnorisis lead to the catastrophe in the end. oedipus discovers his true identity and finds jocasta, who had hung herself.
- Analyzes how aristotle notes that a good tragedy must begin with the tragic hero at the top of his society. oedipus's tragic flaws are his strongest and greatest qualities.
- Analyzes how pity is felt for oedipus as he works toward finding lauis' killer to heal the plague in thebes.
- Analyzes how oedipus causes fear of what will happen to him once he realizes the truth and at the same time finds out that his mother/wife has hung herself.
- Analyzes how the pity and fear evoked by oedipus cause an experience of catharsis or a purging of emotion.
- Analyzes how oedipus the king is an excellent example of aristotle's theory of tragedy. it has a perfect tragic plot consisting of paripeteia, anagnorisis and catastrophe.
- Analyzes how oedipus the king by sophocles has the ingredients necessary for a good aristotelian tragedy.
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- Tragedy In Oedipus The King, The Tragic Heroanalytical essayOedipus 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus is a tragic hero who suffers the consequences of his immoral actions, and must learn from these mistakes.
- Analyzes how oedipus' determination to seek the truth and care for his people makes him an admirable man and respectable king.
- Analyzes how oedipus has hamartia or flaws that lead to his demise. one of them is his excessive pride in the control over his life but in reality he has no control.
- Analyzes how oedipus could have avoided his suffering by never killing a man and never marring women old enough to be his parents.
- Analyzes how oedipus' life arouses pity from the audience because his weakness lies in that he was human.
- Analyzes how oedipus was a man dedicated to fighting and avoiding evil but he himself was the cause of so much tragedy. his ideal qualities of being intelligent and powerful, but not perfect, were not enough to keep his falling into misfortune
997 wordsRead More - Oedipus: A Tragic Heroanalytical essayOedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King is Sophocles’s first play of “The Theban Cycle.” It tells the story of a king that tries to escape his fate, but by doing so he only brings about his downfall. Oedipus is a classic example of the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a basically good and noble person who causes his own downfall due to a flaw in his character.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus, a great and noble king, was flawed by his hubris, or spiritual pride. he wandered the lands until he came upon thebes.
- Explains sophocles and oedipus the king. literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama, 7th ed.
- Analyzes how oedipus the king is a classic example of the aristotelian definition of tragic hero. he solves the sphinx's riddle, saves thebes, and takes over the throne of laius.
- Analyzes how oedipus causes his own downfall through his arrogance. he thinks that teiresias is falsely accusing him of murdering laius, and tries to escape what fate has in store for him.
671 wordsRead More - Oedipus the King: A Classic Tragedyanalytical essayAristotle, in his work The Poetics, tries to delineate the idea of a tragedy. Throughout his work Aristotle says that the hero, or at least the protagonist in a tragedy must be substantially good, almost godlike. This hero must bring upon themselves their downfall, due to their fatal flaw. If the hero is not at a high point, an audience will not care about them, and won’t notice their fall. One must fall a long way in social class in order for it to be noticed by the outside man. Oedipus perfectly exemplifies a tragedy, in relation to modern society, effectively showing how too much pride can often lead to downfall or doom.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how aristotle, in his work the poetics, tries to delineate the idea of a tragedy. he says that the hero must be substantially good, almost godlike.
- Analyzes how oedipus solves the riddle of the great sphinx, which leads him to become the king of thebes. catharsis is necessary for a true tragedy to exist.
- Explains that tragic stories offer a sense of learning about the human condition, which is called catharsis.
- Analyzes how the fatal flaw, or hamartia, that the character makes, in oedipus, does not actually take place during the story itself.
- Analyzes how oedipus' reversal and recognition are realized while his balanced life is hanging from a thread.
1018 wordsRead More - The Tragic Hero: Oedipus And The Tragic Heroanalytical essayArthur Miller alters Aristotle 's definition of the tragic hero and tragedy; Miller suggests that the common man is capable of experiencing the tragedy of a king because they experience "similar emotional situations"(148). Miller points out that the tragic feeling is induced when the character gives up everything to try to guard his personal dignity. The character is flawed but not too faulty in order to be relatable to the common man. However, the character flaw that causes his downfall isn 't a weakness. After his downfall, the common man learns a lesson Although Miller redefines the tragic character, Oedipus is still a suitable example. I completely agree with Arthur Miller’s points about the nature of tragedy and the tragic hero in the context of Oedipus and Oedipus Rex.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that even in job's tale, there is more to lose.
- Analyzes how oedipus' quote is true at the end of the play, where he accepts his horrible fate. in greek mythology, fortune (chance) is the goddess of fate and she is depicted as veiled.
- Opines that miller’s thesis is true, that the worst of all.
- Analyzes how arthur miller alters aristotle's definition of the tragic hero and tragedy. the character is flawed but not too faulty in order to be relatable to the common man.
- Analyzes how oedipus is willing to accept a harsh, self-administered punishment, and accept it with all the grace he can muster.
- Opines that the quality in plays that shakes audiences lies in the fear that all of us have of being pulled away from what we desire to be.
1208 wordsRead More - As a tragedy Oedipus the King spends the majority of the play discovering who he is, without knowing exactly what is occurring. The tragedy was that he suffered the improbabilities of murdering his father and then marrying his mother, it is a tail of his revelations about his past, and the events that led him to his ultimate fall. In this play, Sophocles illustrated a world of human frailty, pride, and punishment, which helped to propel, with dreadful inevitability, a protagonist moving toward catastrophe. Oedipus is the direct cause of his own undoing, however it is not because he is evil, proud, or weak, but simply because he does not know his true past or who he is. The facts that he believes to be true are unraveled, thus revealing his fate. Oedipus meets the first criterion of a Greek tragedy, which is that the protagonist is a good person. Oedipus has both a good he...
In this essay, the author
- Opines that tragedy is more of a dignified style of writing that seriously expresses sorrowful or terrible events as they relate to the sometimes heroic individual (the protagonist).
- Analyzes how sophocles illustrated a world of human frailty, pride, and punishment, which helped propel, with dreadful inevitability, the protagonist moving toward catastrophe.
- Analyzes how arthur miller's "tragedy and the common man" argues that the common man is as appropriate a subject for tragedy as the highly placed kings and noble men.
- Analyzes the similarities between the two plays, stating that both characters struggle to maintain a positive outcome in their lives and beat fate. both characters come to some form of self-inflicted harm.
- Compares willy loman and oedipus. both protagonists end their stories with a dark finish, but also divide in the choices they make to exit their lives.
- Opines that tragedy is not just a thing of kings and nobles, but that of everyday people. the differences in the plays, attest to the times they were written and the audience that is meant to view the work.
795 wordsRead More - Oedipus The King Research Paperanalytical essayIn Sophocles’ work, Oedipus the King, Oedipus definitely fits Aristotle’s meaning of a tragic hero which is a man of honorable importance. He is not a usual man, but a man with outstanding superiority and immensity about himself. A man of his own ruins goes for a greater cause or principle. Oedipus conveys many mistakes. In the play Oedipus the King, things really had taken a turn from good to bad. Using Aristotle’s meaning defines will be proven that Oedipus is a 1main example of a tragic hero Nobleness, Tragic flaw, and Hardship are all characteristics that Aristotle described as to what a tragic hero really define as. These are also four features Oedipus proves his well- being of a catastrophic hero.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus fits aristotle's meaning of a tragic hero, stating that nobleness, tragic flaw, and hardship are characteristics that prove his well-being.
- Analyzes how oedipus' nobility and asset is responsible for his first strategic to success as a tragic hero.
- Analyzes how oedipus' tragic flaw was his intelligence, which made him worthy and prodigious, but he was too blind to see the truth before his eyes.
- Analyzes how sophocles wrote the play to make things seem as if oedipus was cursed, or of some kind. by finally learning the truth of his life, he begins to lose things that were most important to him.
- Opines that oedipus is a tragic hero because he saves his hometown from the sphinx and becomes king.
916 wordsRead More - Oedipus: The Reign of a Tragic Heroanalytical essayThe 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.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that hamartia is the fatal flaw leading to the tragic downfall of a hero, which is common in most, if not all greek tragedy plays.
- Explains the meaning of a tragic hero in aristotle's book, literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing.
- Analyzes how oedipus, the new king, thinks that whoever killed king laios will try to kill himself. the occurrence of peripeteia makes a tragic hero stand out from the other characters.
- Explains that oedipus rex was the ideal tragic hero of aristotle, according to the classical association of the atlantic states.
1250 wordsRead More - Shakespeare's Tragic Mistakeargumentative essayTwo lovers took their own lives to avoid the consequences, and in contrast while a man gouged his eyes out to deal with his flaw. Although Romeo and Juliet and Oedipus the King were great tragedies, Oedipus the King contains more of the tragic figures described in Aristotle’s definition. First, the protagonist endured uncommon suffering. Second, the tragic hero recognized the consequences of their actions and took responsibility for them. Third and lastly, the audience experienced catharsis. Ignorance and impulsiveness can cause one to stumble and it can ultimately lead to their fate.
In this essay, the author
- Compares shakespeare's romeo and juliet with sophocles' oedipus the king, where the protagonist is blind to the truth and gouged his eyes out to deal with his flaw.
- Analyzes how romeo and juliet's protagonists endured uncommon suffering, but they are just teenagers with a typical love struggle, and disapproving families.
- Compares oedipus the king to romeo and juliet, in which the protagonists do not accept the consequences of their actions, and instead commit suicide to avoid them.
- Analyzes how romeo and juliet's audience did not experience catharsis in contrast to oedipus the king. their impulsiveness led to their suicides.
- Compares romeo and juliet and oedipus the king to aristotle's definition of tragic figures. the protagonist endured uncommon suffering, the tragic hero recognized the consequences of their actions and the audience experienced catharsis.
844 wordsRead More - The tragic hero is a person of greatness, and noble stature who usually contributes to their own downfall. Oedipus has greatness and noble stature; he’s sublime, in the way that he cares for his people. What leads to his own downfall is his own pride, which came out when he solved the riddle of the Sphinx and was praised by marrying the queen of Thebes, making him feel untouchable, “Here I am myself- you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus. (7-9)” His almightiness caused him to feel obligation into saving his city, causing his rejection of reality, thus causing mistakes throughout the play. The prestige he has causes him to find the killer himself, because no other man other than himself can fix this problem causing a quarrel with Creon and Tiresias. Instead of helping, he ruins himself by cursing the killer, which is his own self saying,” I’ll rid us of this corruption. Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too,” (157-158). Also he denies what Tiresias is telling him, which is the truth, but Oedipus insults him by calling his prophecies “riddles, murk and darkness. (500)” “Here I am myself- you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus. (7-9)” .By being in denial he ignores why he left Polybus and ignores Jocasta’s warning that “if you love your own life, call off this search!” (164), but with the greatness he has, he feels that no knowledge can be kept away from him. “Steals against me… so hungry to overthrone me. (439)” out this situation of against his own friend thinking that Creon was pl...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how aristotle's apprehension of tragedy is used in sophocles' tragic drama, "oedipus the king".
- Analyzes how the tragic hero is a person of greatness and noble stature who contributes to their own downfall.
- Analyzes how oedipus' hamartia affects him the whole way to his doom. his main error would be trying to discover the murderer of the deceased king, laius.
- Analyzes how peripeteia is a tragic play where the protagonist's fortune goes from good to bad. the plague stricken city foreshadows an outbreak of something far off worse.
- Analyzes how anagnorisis is the recognition by the tragic hero of some truth about his or her identity or actions.
971 wordsRead More - Oedipus the Kinganalytical essayOedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a tragic drama that portrays a great deal of irony. Oedipus, the protagonist, suffers serious misfortune that is significant in that the “misfortune is logically connected with the hero’s actions” (AbleMedia LLC). When the reader learns about the background of Greek culture and the life of Sophocles, this tragic drama is able to become more alive and valuable. It is important to familiarize oneself with the author because it allows for a greater connection to the dialogue presented. Through the character development of Oedipus, one can see how ironic circumstances can turn a prideful king into a tragic figure.
In this essay, the author
- Explains thomas r. martin's an overview of classical greek history from mycenae to alexander, the development of athenian tragedy.
- Explains that oedipus, the protagonist, suffers serious misfortune that is logically connected with the hero’s actions. greek theater was financed by the athenian state.
- Analyzes how oedipus decides to restore thebes into its former state after the murder of laios. he unknowingly gives an ironic speech of which he will soon regret.
- Describes curtis, edward m., and john brugaletta's transformed thinking: loving god with all your mind.
- Analyzes meineck's "ancient drama illuminate by contemporary stagecraft: some thoughts on the use of mask and ekkyklema in ariane mnouchkine'
2062 wordsRead More - Research Paper On Oedipus The Kinganalytical essay... parents. His initial intention was to relieve Oedipus from his fears of the prophecy; instead the results prove to be contradictory to his initial intent. The messenger provides him with critical information that immediately reveals to Oedipus that he was not successful in preventing the prophecy his actions lead him right into it. As Aristotle recommends, this is directly connected to the anagnorisis, for the messenger and the herdsman are the missing link to Oedipus true story. The messenger enables him to “recognize” his true identity, he gains the initial knowledge he lacked. The peripeteia and anagnorisis changes Oedipus fortune. His good fortune turns out to be a catastrophe that leads to suffering. His actions will be considered a setback of his intentions, and each of them will give him more insight of the truth that will eventually lead to his downfall.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that oedipus the king is believed to be one of the best classical examples of greek classical order and what tragedy represents.
- Analyzes how oedipus, the king of thebe, modelled aristotle's theorizing of what tragedy is in his book the poetics. the play follows greek classical order.
- Analyzes how oedipus is the son of the king and the queen of thebes. the king laius learns from an oracle that his son will grow up to murder him and marry his wife.
- Explains that oedipus is a man of noble stature with an outstanding quality and greatness about him. he is the son of the king and queen of thebes.
- Explains that aristotle specifies that every tragic hero must have hamartia, but their failing must be neither a specific personal characteristic nor one determined by impulse.
- Analyzes how oedipus has many flaws, namely his poor temperament, carelessness, curiosity, and pride. his hamartia is considered more of a "mistake" rather than an omission.
- Analyzes how the plot in a greek tragedy involves reversal of fortune (peripeteia) and recognition of an unknown person's identity (anagnorisis).
759 wordsRead More - Oedipus the King: The Tragic Flaws Of Oedipusanalytical essayThe great Sophoclean play, Oedipus Rex is an amazing play, and one of the first of its time to accurately portray the common tragic hero. Written in the time of ancient Greece, Sophocles perfected the use of character flaws in Greek drama with Oedipus Rex. Using Oedipus as his tragic hero, Sophocles’ plays forced the audience to experience a catharsis of emotions. Sophocles showed the play-watchers Oedipus’s life in the beginning as a “privileged, exalted [person] who [earned his] high repute and status by…intelligence.” Then, the great playwright reached in and violently pulled out the audience’s most sorrowful emotions, pity and fear, in showing Oedipus’s “crushing fall” from greatness.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how oedipus's persistence is seen even from the beginning of the play, when he first encounters teiresias, a seer who refuses to divulge the truth
- Explains that deborah d. jones and naomi williams, humanities department handbook of augusta preparatory day school, 2nd ed.
- Analyzes jen byers' "oedipus and the search for truth," rivendell educational archive, ed. leigh denault.
- Analyzes how sophocles used character flaws in greek drama with oedipus rex.
- Analyzes how the use of ignorance in the play is expressed through light and dark imagery. oedipus's downfall was the direct result of his tragic flaws.
- Cites rivendell educational archive's "an exploration of oedipus," ed. leigh denault.
1052 wordsRead More - The Characteristics Of Mody: Oedipus Rex As A Greek Tragedyanalytical essayOedipus Rex qualifies as a “perfect” tragedy. Yet, Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy is somewhat considerably shortsighted. “Tragedy, then, is a process of imitating an action which has serious implications, is complete, and possesses magnitude; by means of language which has been made sensuously attractive…”(AS.O.T). When one wonders about a tragedy one thinks Horrific Devestation, and mass death and many sad things, when in theory, in all a tragedy can be summed up as much as it being, an aristocrat with excessive pride, and that makes them have a tragic downfall and it makes the audience change emotions quickly. Oedipus Rex fits each category Aristotle established thousands of years ago, making it The greatest of the classic Greek
In this essay, the author
- Explains aristotle's definition of a tragedy, stating that it has five characteristics. the tragic hero must be of noble stature, and the tragic flaw causes his downfall.
- Analyzes how sophocles reveals that oedipus is an aristocrat, born of the king and queen of thebes and adopted by corinth.
- Analyzes how oedipus' tragic flaw is ignorance or blindness to his own fate. he is too content with himself and his life to see his end coming.
- Analyzes how oedipus' response to jocasta's late-breaking news adds to his worries. the messenger who comes to tell of polybus' death is surprised to find that this news brings him relief.
- Analyzes sophocles' intent that oedipus take responsibility for his misgivings and transcend human limitations.
1771 wordsRead More - Philosophy: Oedipus and Aristotleanalytical essayThrough 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, stating that oedipus is one of the greatest tragedies of all time.
- Analyzes aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, stating that being part of the royal family gave the protagonist more to lose when they eventually fell from power.
- Analyzes how oedipus is a caring and loving king, but he fails to recognize his connection to laius and jocasta, which leads to his downfall.
- Analyzes how oedipus' hamartia and his tragic flaw are often confused to have the same definition. his extreme determination to find the murderer ironically leads him to unintentionally curse himself.
- Analyzes adade-yeboah, asuama, kwaku ahenkora et al., "the tragic hero of the classical period." english language and literature studies.
- Analyzes how oedipus rex fits aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. he is too prideful to suspect himself of being the murderer and is figuratively blind to evidence.
- Analyzes how barstow, marjorie, and gioia, dana and x.j. kennedy wrote critical casework: sophocles.
1245 wordsRead More - Oedipus the King: A Tragic Heroanalytical essayA tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a man who is great but also terribly flawed, who experiences misfortunes while still remaining admirable to the audience at the end of the play. One of Aristotle’s favorite works, Oedipus the King, a play by Sophocles, is a play that above all others, defines the meaning of what a true tragic hero really is. In the play, Oedipus the King, the story unfolds after Oedipus unintentionally kills his own father and goes on to marry his mother. The events of the play are tragic, but it is the way that Oedipus handles the tragedies that make him a tragic hero.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, stating that oedipus the king defines the meaning of what he is.
- Analyzes how oedipus proves to be a great and courageous man because of his extreme intelligence and cleverness.
- Analyzes how the heart of the story unravels when oedipus apparently begins to suffer a reversal of fortunes.
- Analyzes how oedipus remains admirable to the audience at the end of the play. he takes full responsibility for his actions rather than fleeing the punishment he so rightly defined for the criminal.
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