Oedipus the Tragedy
Imagine the pain of discovering that you had unknowingly murdered your father and thenmarried your widowed mother! This was the discovery made by the main character in Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, when he sets out to seek his true identity. The philosopher Aristotle explains in his book The Poetics, that a tragic play arouses the emotions of pity, fear, wonder and awe in the audience. The plot must be complex, and a character should fall from prosperity to misfortune due to some type of mistake. Classical tragedy also involves portraying the reversal of a situation, self recognition from a character, and humansuffering. The three unities, noble character, and a complex plot, are some of the criteria fromAristotle's Poetics that make Oedipus Rex a classic example of Greek tragedy. Aristotle regards the plot as the most important parts of a Greek tragedy. He statesthat ". . .the plot ought to be to be so constructed that, even without the aid of the eye, he
Its complex plot, its tragic hero and Oedipus's tortured suffering, meet and exceed the parameters of classical Greek tragedy. In his blindness Oedipus receives none of the benefits of the living, but he is not physically dead, and so his suffering does not. His tragic flaw is his lack of knowledge about his own identity, and his persistence in learning the truth. Oedipus may have been the greatest of men, the solver of riddles, but he could only solve the riddle of his origin by revealing a truth to awful to bear. Oedipus Rex illustrates the characteristic of recognition when Oedipus comes to realize who he actually is, his father's murderer, and his mother's husband. Oedipus Rex portrays qualities of reversal when Oedipus, who was once superior, has now been reduced to an inferior level. Additionally, a tragic hero should also possess a tragic flaw, which leads to his own downfall. His tragic fate was prophesized to Oedipus himself, and also to Laius, his father, years before. Oedipus is not only physically blind, but his failure to realize the truth led him to intellectual darkness. e tale will thrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes place . This inflicts greater pity from the audience. In blinding himself, Oedipus fulfills an alternate death that heightens his suffering. This is another of the mechanical parts required in a Greek tragedy. His blindness is symbolized throughout the play when people contrast lightness and darkness.
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