Oedipus the King
Aristotle's key principles as found in Oedipus the King Drama was an important way to transmit culture, education, morality and religion during the Golden Age of Greek theatre, which lasted from about 500bc to 400bc. There were three main tragedians in Greece at this time. Aeschylus, also know as the father of tragedy, who added a second actor to the original style of the genre, while also reducing the size of the chorus. Sophocles added a third actor and grew the beautiful language used by the performers. He emphasized on fate and free will of mankind and his work is considered the essence of Greek drama. Euripedes was different because he questioned the traditional ideas thus humanizing plays to appeal to the audience's emotions. During this era, festivals would be held in Athens' city center for which a dramatist would submit a collection of four plays. The collection would consist of a tragic; mind churning trilogy and a more light hearted satire at the end. One part of a trilogy by Sophocles that would eventually evolve into a classic was Oedipus the King, in which the author conforms to the five main key principles defined by Aristotle 100 years after the great tragedians passed.
The protagonist Oedipus, is the central character in the play and by Aristotle's definition, the ideal hero should be a good man who is highly renown. stem from the classic Greek tragedy and Aristotle's analytical poetics. Aristotle also said that a tragic plot should have unity for time place and action. Entertainment today is seen more as a medium to escape from reality ironically even as movies become more realistic. His over pride also shines through as he states, "You cannot hurt me, Nor any other who beholds the light,"(22) The arrogance shown by Oedipus here is means for his fall to come. Aristotle also states that the purpose of a tragedy is to overall entertain the audience by uplifting it, but that the play may also have a lesson involved. The hero usually does not die; he will suffer instead. Since such effects were merely terrifying and not tragic, violence was explained as a narrated off stage occurrence. The reversal, is the point in a tragedy where the action turns and the hero's fortune begins downward. Chanting this burden, Not once, but many times, he raised his hand And stabbed his eyes: so that from both of them the blood ran down his face, not drop by drop, But all at once, in a dark shower of gore. It is at this point in the play that Oedipus starts to make enemies as he accuses Creon and Tiresias of conspiring to take the thrown. Offstage, in true Greek tragic fashion Oedipus is described to have outraged his own eyes, an incident meant to evoke pity from the audience. Although one could argue that the description of Oedipus murdering his father did not take place in Thebes, this point is irrelevant because the event happened in the past and is simply being retold as a story. In Greek and Roman days drama was the key way of transmitting culture, education, morality, and religion. The passage "A sight - such as even he that loathes must pity! Enter OEDIPUS blind.
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