How Sophocles' Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero - Research Paper Example

?How Sophocles’ Oedipus Exemplifies Aristotle’s Definition of a Tragic Hero Thesis: Upon analyzing the drama, it becomes clear that Sophocles indeed exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through the key elements of Oedipus’ hamartia (tragic flaw), peripeteia, anagnorisis, downfall, getting more than what is deserved etc and the plot epitomizes tragedy through imitation, arousal of pity and fear in the audience and finally the experience of catharsis. I. Introduction II. How Sophocles’ Oedipus falls in the tragedy genre A. Aristotle’s definition of tragedy B. Proof of how Sophocles’ Oedipus is a tragedy III. Main elements that make Sophocles’ Oedipus a tragic hero A. Definition of tragic hero and identification of tragic hero in Oedipus the King B. Hamartia or tragic flaw of Oedipus C. Oedipus’ peripeteia D. Anagnorisis or recognition of self E. Hubris or excessive pride of Oedipus IV. Secondary elements that evidence Oedipus is a tragic hero A. Oedipus’ noble birth B. Greater degree of suffering than the mistake C. Downfall ultimately caused by hero’s decisions V. Other elements demonstrating Oedipus as a tragic hero A. Family fallen apart due to own mistakes and decisions B. Catharsis and enlightenment VI. Conclusion Introduction: Considered to be one of the most significant works in literature, Sophocles’ Oedipus The King, is basically a tragedy about the life of its protagonist, Oedipus, son of Laius and Jocasta. The paper at hand focuses on exploring how Oedipus The King incorporates Aristotle’s Definition of a tragic hero, thus, ultimately making the play a tragedy. It also discusses and gives a brief overview of Aristotle’s philosophies regarding tragedy, tragic hero as well as drama. Furthermore, the paper overviews the origins of Oedipus The King and explains the various devices used in the play, such as the style, imagery, tone, recognition, reversal etc. Upon analyzing the drama, it becomes clear that Sophocles indeed exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through the key elements of Oedipus’ hamartia (tragic flaw), peripeteia, anagnorisis, downfall, getting more than what is deserved etc and the plot epitomizes tragedy through imitation, arousal of pity and fear in the audience and finally the experience of catharsis. The ancient Greeks saw theatre not only as a means of entertainment but also as a way to celebrate their gods, thus they promoted various theatrical performances. These performances were basically in the form of plays or drama, the latter of which is defined by Aristotle as “poems representing action” in his work named ‘Poetics’ (Aristotle, 2009, Section 1). Aristotle also talks about the classification of drama into “Tragedy and Comedy,” (Aristotle) and furthermore, defines tragedy as 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” (University of Chicago Internet Project, n.d., p.1). According to this definition, on analysis of Oedipus the King, one can see imitation in the form that the performance is a re-enactment of the whole story, and the main issue in the story is the conflict between fate and Oedipus’ choices or actions. This issue is serious as well as of great importance, and also, it is ‘complete in itself,’ that is, the theme or issue is followed throughout the story. The serious actions range from Oedipus killing his own father to him marrying his mother and in the end becoming a reason for her suicide as well. The point to be noted here is that all his actions, although resulting from fate, are still an outcome of his own decisions. The language used in the play is ‘appropriate and pleasurable’ in the sense that the comments of the chorus are different from that of others’ dialogs, as the former has different meters as well as rhythm and melody. The tone used throughout the story is basically tragic and it is aimed to evoke sympathy from the audience. Various incidents in the play evoke pity and fear from the audience, that is, the audience experiences high sympathy to see the central character’s family torn apart and further feels afraid for the hero’s “destructive end” (University of Chicago Internet Project, n.d., p.1). Finally the protagonist as well as the audience is rid of these emotions in the end by catharsis, which is obtained through “purification and purging” (Carson Newman College, n.d.). Therefore, it becomes clear that Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a drama of the genre ‘tragedy.’ The protagonist or hero of a tragedy is known as the tragic hero, which means that in this play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. The tragic hero is basically a “literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (Bainbridge Island School District, n.d.). Considering this definition, one might see that the fatal flaw or judgement error that Oedipus makes was trying to avoid his destiny. He takes all decisions accordingly in a way that he can escape his fate, however, despite all his attempts he fails and ultimately becomes the reason for his own downfall. Nevertheless, Oedipus cannot be blamed as all of his decisions were actually taken in a state of ignorance, he was not aware that the man he was going to kill was his father and neither did he know that he was going to marry his own mother. The peripeteia or “reversal of fortune” is seen here when Oedipus finds out the truth about his real parents, and this indeed reverses his fortune, as he was adamant on finding out Laius’ murderer and having him exiled (Bainbridge Island School District, n.d.). Since Oedipus himself is the killer, he has to give up the thrown and “be sent out dishonored into exile,” thus reversing into poor from rich and powerless from powerful (Sophocles, n.d., p.47). Anagnorisis also takes place when the Messenger delivers the news of Oedipus’ parentage to the king, and the protagonist is enlightened from a state of complete ignorance to that of increasing knowledge about himself. This shows that Oedipus, through his reversal of situation, reaches the ‘recognition’ stage where he realizes his true identity, thus attaining enlightenment. Thus, Sophocles is able to bring about maximum impact as both peripeteia and anagnorisis happen at the same point of time, thus adding to the tragedy. Another characteristic of the tragic hero is ‘hubris’ or “excessive pride,” and this is evidenced from the fight he puts up against his fate, that is, he tries to outsmart his fate but miserably fails to do so just as any other ordinary human (Bainbridge Island School District, n.d.). Although it is necessary that Oedipus pride himself for solving the Riddle of the Sphinx, it still does not mean that he should become overtly proud and arrogant so much as to think that he can overcome the his fate written by the gods. Therefore, it becomes clear that Oedipus fits the definition of a tragic hero through hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis and hubris. There are certain other elements that make up a tragic hero and help the audience to identify with him. First of all, the hero must be born noble as well as should have the qualities of a good noble man. In this sense, Oedipus is biologically born to Laius and Jocasta, which makes him heir to throne of Thebes, and later on he is adopted by Polybus and Merope and, thus, becomes heir to Corinth. In both cases, he is portrayed as belonging to a noble or royal family, and furthermore his noble good quality is shown when he tries to solve the Sphinx’s riddle, thus alleviating the people from its thrall. Despite the noble characteristic of the hero, he is not turned into someone who possesses extraordinary power, as this will result in the audience feeling inferior to him. A tragic hero must suffer for worse than what he deserves, and this is the element that would help arouse feelings of pity from the audience. Accordingly, the suffering of Oedipus is far greater than his mistake committed out of ignorance, as he loses both his parents, his kingdom, his eyesight and thus succumbs to complete misfortune. The tragic hero’s downfall is ultimately a direct result of his own decisions, this is also the case in Oedipus the King as Oedipus himself is responsible for his undoing. Although the gods are “held responsible” for Oedipus’ “fate,” in the end it was his own free will that he followed and this free will led to his demise (University of Pretoria, n.d., p.5). All these factors further point towards Oedipus being a tragic hero in one of the greatest tragedies in history, Oedipus the King. Although the audience is able to identify themselves with the tragic hero of the play due to his various imperfections along the path to his downfall, the most horrifying part comes when it is revealed that Oedipus has not only killed his own father but also married his mother. He further has had four children with his biological mother, thus Jocasta is his mother and wife, as well as his children are his half brothers and sisters too. Adding to the misery is Jocasta suiciding, which leads Oedipus to blind himself. However, the tragedy ends there, next is purgation and purification process that is undergone by not only the protagonist but also the audience. Ultimately after all the suffering, the tragic hero is enlightened and no longer remains oblivious to truth and knowledge, and thus, shares this enlightenment with the audience. Both Oedipus and the audience experience a cleansing of the soul and feelings of pity as well as fear are ridden off through this. They receive a deeper knowledge about human beings and understand their place with respect to that of the gods, and therefore, through catharsis, the tragic hero is finally at peace. Thus, the last element of catharsis has also been evidenced in Oedipus’ story, which ultimately proves that Oedipus is indeed a tragic hero. Conclusion: Therefore, after examining the story of Oedipus the King, it becomes clear that the play is a tragedy, as it fits the definition of ‘tragedy’ provided by Aristotle. The definition of tragedy is broken down into different elements and then compared with the story of Oedipus to show that it fits this definition. The various elements that make the play a tragedy include imitation, pity, fear, catharsis, sympathetic tone used in the text etc. Furthermore, it is evidenced that Oedipus is a tragic hero and therefore, it is proved that Sophocles’ Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero through the elements of hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, suffering, downfall of Oedipus etc. References Aristotle (2009). Poetics (S. H. Butcher, Trans.). Retrieved from http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html Bainbridge Island School District (n.d.). Tragic Hero as Defined by Aristotle. Retrieved from http://www.bisd303.org/cms/lib3/WA01001636/Centricity/Domain/593/10th%20english%20Fall/C%20-%20The%20Tragic%20Play/Antigone.Medea/Definition%20of%20Tragic%20Hero.pdf Carson Newman College (n.d.). Aristotle's Definition of Tragedy. Retrieved from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Aristotle_Tragedy.pdf Sophocles (n.d.). Oedipus the King (D. Grene, Trans.). Retrieved from http://swcta.net/moore/files/2013/09/Oedipus-the-King-Full-Text.pdf University of Chicago Internet Project (n.d.). Aristotle’s Ideas About Tragedy. From the Poetics. Retrieved from http://cuip.uchicago.edu/~ldernbach/msw/xhgkaristrag.pdf University of Pretoria (n.d.). Chapter 1: The Theory of Tragedy: A Historical Approach. Retrieved from http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10102007-115952/unrestricted/01chapter1.pdf Read More