Imagine the pain of discovering that you had unknowingly murdered your father and then
married 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 human
suffering. The three unities, noble character, and a complex plot, are some of the criteria from
Aristotle'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 states
that ". . .the plot ought to be to be so constructed that, even without the aid of the eye, he
who hears the tale will thrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes place . . ."' (The Poetics).
Oedipus Rex's plot moves in various directions, which Aristotle calls reversal and recognition.
This is another of the mechanical parts required in a Greek tragedy. Oedipus Rex portrays
qualities of reversal when Oedipus, who was once superior, has now been reduced to an inferior
level. His tragic fate was prophesized to Oedipus himself, and also to Laius, his father, years
before. Each man had sought to undermine this prophecy. 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.
Aristotle also requires that a Greek tragedy include a tragic hero, a man who fails
to achieve happiness, and whose failure sti
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