Oedipus the King an Analysis of the Tragedy - Essay Example

Oedipus the King an analysis of the Tragedy The great dramas of Sophocles and Euripides were performed at the Spring Festival of Dionysus, every year in Greece, around 6th century B.C. Tragedy was performed by an actor who played different roles by changing his masks. There was always the chorus, who commented upon the actor’s actions. Thus began the Tragedy, which became more refined in the course of time, with great intellectuals like Plato and Aristotle laying down the structure of a Tragedy and the rules governing it Greek tragedy has continued to inspire artists and philosophers throughout the western world. Friedrich Nietzsche and Schopenhauer have commented on this form of art, with the former writing a treatise on Tragedy, and its philosophical implications. ‘Oedipus the King’ by Sophocles is a famous tragedy which still continues to inspire modern playwrights and philosophers. Although written two thousand five hundred years ago, ‘Oedipus the King’ is capable of arousing all the emotions of pity and fear as it could when it was first staged. ‘Oedipus the King’ arouses powerful emotions in the spectators which, according to Plato, are undesirable, at the same time, it is a perfect example of a good Tragedy according to the rules laid out by Aristotle. With its balance between the Dionysian and Apollonian components, ‘Oedipus the King’ also satisfies the requirements of a good drama as defined by Friedrich Nietzsche. In his ‘Republic’, Plato extols reason at the cost of emotion. Plato questions why people enjoy seeing other people suffer on the stage. He links it to the irrational side of human psyche. His rational Utopia is ruled by philosophy, not by irrational emotions. Although he understood the mysterious human need for pathos, he thinks rationality is superior. Pathos evoked a feeling of compassion for the sufferer and a terror that it could happen to one In ‘Oedipus’ the feeling of fear is generated from the beginning, when the supplicants come to speak to the king about the plague According to Plato, since tragedy is dominated by the irrational side of human character, it is not desirable Supporting the abstract, intellectual aspect of reality, Plato did not appreciate tragedy with its extravagant portrayal of powerful emotions. He feels that the feeling of pity in a tragedy is pleasurable, which is inappropriate. We feel great pity for Oedipus when he blinds himself, but at the same time we enjoy the feeling. According to Plato, poetry arouses wrong emotions in the audience. In contrast, Aristotle, the famous student of Plato, disagrees with his teacher. He considers poetry which includes tragedy as necessary for human development. In his treatise “Poetics”, Aristotle defines tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude”.(Butcher)”Oedipus’ is a serious drama, complying to the requirements of magnitude Aristotle says that the language of the tragedy must have different kinds of artistically ornamental language. The language used by the people, by the messenger and by the king himself is ornamental He further says that tragedy should not be in the form of narrative, but in the form of action, with incidents arousing pity and fear.In ‘Oedipus’ we see the perfect example of tragedy with action and incidents arousing strong emotions of pity and fear According to Aristotle, every tragedy must have six parts which ensure its quality. The six parts of a tragedy should be Plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle and Melody. He is of the view that tragedy is of higher status than history, because it deals with the universal whereas history deals with the particular. History only tells us what has happened, while tragedy being more philosophical, tells us what might happen. History tells us of some events which have occurred, without going in depth about the cause, whereas traged , with its chain of cause and effect, follows the universal law. Tragedy , therefore arouses fear as well as pity in the audience because they can relate to it On the other hand, the audience can have a detached view of history, which is, after all, something which happened to someone else. The most important feature of a tragedy is the plot according to Aristotle. The plot is the way the incidents are arranged and presented to the audience. It must be whole, with a beginning, middle and end. The beginning should give an indication of the cause-and effect chain .We see this in the first scene of ‘Oedipus’ where the people have come to him to save them. The middle or ‘climax’ as it is called now, must be caused by earlier action and it must lead to further complication. The end, or ‘denoument’ must be caused by earlier events, resolving the complication.’ Oedipus’ has a climax caused by his actions and a final denoument. In ‘Oedipus the King’, the plot is complex, with Reversal of the situation. It is whole with a beginning where we learn about the plague, a climax where Oedipus learns his true identity, and an end where he blinds himself. The beginning indicates the cause and effect chain .The messenger comes to cheer Oedipus by giving him news about his mother, but ends by throwing him into the darkest gloom by revealing who Oedipus actually was. The ‘peripeteia’ of the play is the reversal caused by the Messenger who tells Oedipus that Polybus and Merope were not his real parents. The Messenger and the Herdsman put together all the pieces of Oedipus’ history which enables him to recognize his true identity, and he gains the knowledge. The ‘peripeteia’ and anagnorisis lead to his emotional suffering. The terrible truth that the prophesy has indeed come true, and that he has killed his father and married his mother causes him the most terrible mental agony Aristotle has also of the opinion that a tragedy must have a decent length, which ‘Oedipus’ complies with. In a good tragedy, according to Aristotle, the characters support the plot. The “Law of probability or necessity” might make a character seemingly flawed, which reinforces the cause-and effect chain The protagonist in a good comedy will be the sufferer because of his ignorance. His actions will lead to his downfall. This is well brought out in ‘Oedipus the King’ where Oedipus insists on knowing himself. The ‘hamartia’ is inevitable in the drama, arousing fear and pity in the spectators. . Thus Aristotle’s criteria of a good tragedy are met in Sophocles’ ‘Oedipus the King’. Nietzsche was a nineteenth century classicist who was also well known as a philosopher.He admired the form of the Greek tragedy. In the preface to his book ‘The Birth of Tragedy’ , he says, “How to view scholarship from the vantage of the artist and art from the vantage of life?”(Nietzsche) He divides the elements of humanity int Apollonian and Dionysian, based on the characteristics of the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysius.Apollo is characterized by wisdom, delight, beauty and illusion while Dionysius is characterized by intoxication and uncontrolled emotion. Apollo has a set of fantasies under control, while Dionysius has uncontrolled fantasies. While the Apollonian element has order, control and focuses on self, divorcing from the group as in the case of Oedipus who was absorbed in finding his identity, Dionysian shows oneness with the group, and encourages group identity as in the chorus. Nietzsche, in his “The Birth of Tragedy” divides human nature into the Apollonian and the Dionysian .While the Apollonian represents the form of expression and structure, the Dionysian represents raw emotion and chaos. Oedipus the King is a perfect blend of the Apollonian and the Dionysian with its impeccable structure and its use of music and imagery. In ‘Oedipus the King’, the progression of events on the stage which is Apollonian, enable the audience to experience very powerful emotions, which is Dionysian. In the end, the spectator experiences the ecstasy of the universal. According to Nietzsche, Greek tragedy went beyond the pessimism and Nihilism. The spectators of tragedy who were troubled by the meaningless suffering in the world would watch the drama unfold and find meaning in their own lives. They transcended their own petty selves, and found ecstasy in watching the terror and pity celebrated by the tragedy. Nietzsche says that the Greek spectators thus found self affirmation in their lives. Nietzsche was educated to be a philologist. Discussing the history of Greek tragedy, he says that neither the Dionysean nor the Apollonian prevailed completely in the Greek tragedy because each restrained the other to bring about a natural balance.The Greek tragedy allowed the spectators to enjoy the full spectrum of human emotions because of this natural balance. The chorus, with its music was Dionysean , while the structure and the dialogue represented the Apollonian . In ‘Oedipus’, we see the balance between the Dianysean and the Apollonian as represented by the chorus which is exhuberent being balanced by the structure and dialogue.The Apollonian element gives form to the revelry of the Dionysian. The rigid art forms of sculpture which was basically Apollonian was highly regarded before the tragedy. The festivals and wild intoxication they provided , with the music they had represented the Dionysean.The tragedy came when both these art forms were combined . Thus we see in ‘Oedipus’ the successful combination of the Dionysean and Apollonian as represented by music and structure. Nietzsche recognized the truth of the relation of humanity to the ultimate reality. Greek tragedy has a form which unites the humanity with the devine. This is seen in ‘Oedipus’ where the spectators recognize their dependence on Olympian gods.According to Nietzsche, In the drama, the Apollonian and the Dionysian are brought together, making the individual realize his true existance, as nothing less than the universal Being. Thus tragedy resoves the fundamental conflict between the Apollonian and the Dianysian. Nietzsche also claims that tragedy was born out of the “spirit of music”.He avers that music and myth being inseparable, they give us the aesthetic justification of the world which is full of suffering. They both have the sting of pain in them. ‘Oedipus the King’ with its use of dramatic irony and ability to arouse powerful emotions and its perfect blending of the elements of Apollonian and Dionysian, is the perfect example of a tragedy according to Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche. According to Plato, it is a drama which extols uncontrolled emotions in the spectators, without contributing to rationa thought. According to Aristotle, who disagreed with Socrates’ theory, Greek tragedy especially ‘Oedipus the King’ is the perfect example of the form. According to Nietzsche, ‘Oedipus the King’ combines both Apollonian and Dionysian elements, with its chorus and structure, thus lifting the spectators to heights of ecstasy culminating with the oneness of Being. References Aristotle. “Poetics” translated S.H.Butcher eBooks@Adelaide 2007 viewed on October25,2008. Nietzsche, Frederic Wilhelm.”The Birth of Tragedy:Out of the Spirit of Music”. Kessinger Publishing ,2004. “Friedrich Nietzsche:Critical Assessments” D.W.Conway .ed. New York, Routledge 1996. Plato. “The Republic” 360 B.C. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. The Internet Classics Archive.classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.2.i.html Read More