Why are there few or no gods located in Greek tragedies - Research Paper Example

Why there are Few or no Gods Located in Greek Tragedies Like all other tragedies, Greek tragedies are a type of art that are based on the suffering of human yet it offers its audience pleasure. Such forms of art have the capacity to provoke a paradoxical response from their audiences. Tragedies have played an important role in the self-definition of western civilization. Examples of the best Greek tragedies are Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Oedipus the King, Philoctetes, Agamemnon among others (Rehm 135).

Usually, tragedies present the downfall of a noble heroine or hero through the combination of fate, hubris and the will of gods. Despite achieving the same effect as other tragedies, one thing that is notable about Greek tragedies is that they have few or no gods. This paper gives an exploration of the reasons behind this. Since time immemorial, the larger Greek society looked at gods in human terms for example, gods fought with each other and held grudges against each pother. This meant that the destiny of the god and men was uncertain.

Human drama was therefore an illustration of their struggle yet with a supernatural element. One characteristic about the Greek tragedies are that they have a late point of attack (Barker 120). This means at such a time, the inclusion of a god is not very unnecessary. Maybe, their role could have been to intervene for the weak at their most difficult moment. At a late point, the person destined to will have to die and little can be done about major actions in the play. The oppressed people will have almost obtained their deliverance though through a struggle.

Another reason for the few or no gods in Greek tragedies is that death and violence usually takes place offstage (Rabinowitz 242). This means the role of gods will not be appreciated by the audience since they won’t se what is really taking place. In places where people arrogance and pride coupled by the urge for personal revenge, the state power is usually allowed to overpower this. From this, the Greek tragedies can be said have a good utilization of hubris and this replaces the need for gods in the play.

The use of hubris in Greek tragedies is summarized by the proverb "pride goes before a fall". Examples of this are seen in the plays written by Aeschylus. Gods make things happen on earth. However, the Greeks believe that what happens mainly depends on what the characters desire and their personal failings more than what gods want, do or do not do (Felski 157). Gods can be said to have an indirect role and this reduces the importance of including them in the Greek tragedies as active participants.

Conclusion Greek tragedies make little or no utilization of gods because of their little or indirect roles. Their role has been replaced by the utilization of hubris in order to achieve the desired effect on the audiences. For example, allowing state laws to have power over characters that are oppressive, proud and arrogant. At he same time, violence and death takes place offstage in some of the tragedies and this limits the role of gods in the play. Works cited Barker Howard. Arguments for a Theatre. London. John Calder. 1989.Felski Rita.

Rethinking Tragedy. Baltimore. Johns Hopkins UP. 2008.Rabinowitz Nancy. Greek Tragedy: Blackwell Introductions to the Classical World ser. Malden, MA. Blackwell. 2008Rehm Rush. Greek Tragic Theatre: Theatre Production Studies ser. London and New York. Routledge. 1992.