Aristotle and Oedipus
Oedipus is a prime example of a tragidy, according toAristotle's definition in the "poetics". Aristotle's Poetics is considered thefirst work of literary criticism in our tradition. The couple of pages in thebook mainly describe tragedy from Aristotle's point of view. He definestragedy as being an imitation of an action that is a whole and complete initself and of a certain magnitude. Aristotle also points out terms such ascatharsis, which can be said that is the purification of one's soul. He argues inhis Poetics that catharsis is achieved through emotions of pity or fear, whichis created in the audience as they witness the tragedy of a character whosuffers unjustly, but is not entirely innocent. Then he moves on to describingthe main elements of tragedy. Such elements are: plot, character, language,thought, spectacle, and melody. Then he classifies these in three parts, themedia, the manner and the objects. The language and melody constitute the"media", in which they effect the imitation. Then there is the spectacle, whichis the "manner", and the remaining three, the plot, character and thought arethe "objects" that are imitated. Aristotle considers the plot to be the most
Those actions happen when the Herdsman tells Oedipus who his mother is, and Oedipus replies "Oh, oh, then everything has come out true. Agreeing with Aristotle that Oedipus'misfortune happens because of his tragic flaw. Oedipus makes a few fatal decisions and is condemned toprofound suffering because of them. He is blind in his actions; therefore he does not see that the questioning would bring him only misery. When Teiresias tries towarn him by saying " I say that you and your most dearly loved are wrapped together in a hideous sin, blind to the horror of it" (Sophocles 428). Oedipus is abandoned by his birth parents and is denied their love, which is what results in what Miller calls "Depression as Denial of the Self". In the play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles portrays themain character, Oedipus, as a good- natured person who has bad judgmentand is frail. "from the machine" phrase should be employedonly for events external to the drama, which lie beyond the range of humanknowledge, and which require to be reported or foretold. He learns a lesson about lifeand how there is more to it than just one person's fate. Recognition, is a change from ignorance to knowledge leading either to friendship or hostility depending on whether the character is marked with good fortune or bad. In contrast, in a complex plot, the change of fortune involves recognition or a reversal or both. All of the above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero according to Aristotle's ideas about tragedy, and a narcissist. Light, I shall not look on you Again. To understand these ideas better he defines reversal and recognition forus.
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