Oedipus
According to Aristotle, a tragedy is the imitation in dramatic form of an action that is serious and complete, with incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith it affects a catharsis of such emotions. Based on this standard, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles can be considered a tragedy. Oedipus was a King whose life fell apart after he found out the truth about his past. We will see the true effect of the definition in going through a list of five criteria necessary for a tragedy. The five criteria are: a tragic hero of noble birth; a tragic flaw; the hero's downfall; the hero's undeserved misfortune and his punishment exceeding his crime; a gain in self-knowledge and for the audience a feeling of catharsis at the end. Oedipus Rex obviously met the first of these five criteria. He was born a prince, the son of Laius and Jocasta who were King and Queen of Thebes. Even when they try to dispose of their son, the couple who adopts him was Polybus and Merope, King and Queen of Corinth. This quality set him apart from an ordinary person. All humans possess flaws, even noble ones, and two of Oedipus' tragic flaws were that he was very temperamental
He was capable of controlling his emotions and chose not to. Oedipus' downfall results not so much from the action of killing his father and marrying his mother, as from his pride, which morally blinds him. They feel sorry for this man who unknowingly killed his father, then married his mother; for the people of the land who have been suffering from the awful plague; for unfortunate Jocasta who unknowingly married her own son; and for Oedipus and Jocasta's children who are the result of incest. He went on to make absolutely sure that he was indeed the killer by summoning the only person who had survived the attack the day he killed Laius, and questioning him. Anger, overconfidence and pride led Oedipus to believe that he was in control of his own life. He fell from being the King of Thebes, to being exiled from his country. The very thing he fights so hard to discover, is what leads to his self-destruction. Oedipus' was then responsible for his own fall from power, which occurred when he found out that he was indeed the murderer of the former King. He was the one who made the penalty known. So although this misfortune was not deserved and his punishment exceeded his crime he had no choice but to go by the rules he himself had set. It is ironic that at the beginning of the play Oedipus was so full of knowledge and had perfect vision, and conversely he was blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and the past; yet, at the end of the play, when the truth finally came Oedipus blinded himself. He became a very proud man, too proud to see any truth in what Teiresias said; he refused to believe that he could have been responsible for such a horrible crime. His short temper also caused him to blame Kreon and Teiresias for the former Kings' murder.
Common topics in this essay:
King Thebes,
Kreon Teiresias,
Oedipus Rex,
Queen Corinth,
Oedipus King,
According Aristotle,
Queen Thebes,
Oedipus Jocasta's,
Rex Sophocles,
oedipus rex,
five criteria,
short temper caused,
killing father,
marrying mother,
temper caused,
short temper,
king queen,
tragedy oedipus,
tragic hero,
play oedipus,
King Queen,
|
Acceptance Essays
