Aristotle, A World-Renowned Greek Philosopher Once Noted

When Medea married Jason, she married herself to him for life. She was expected to be totally obedient and to accept whatever her husband willed. For her to look upon another man other than her husband would have been totally unacceptable. Whereas Jason marries another woman while he is still married, and then it is Medea who is banished from Corinth. However, the audience's response to this type of situation would most likely have been different in Euripedes' time, to today. Obviously one can't know this for sure, but one can deduce it from what we know of that era. Although some wouldn't have condoned Jason's actions, many would have seen it as normal because it would have been a much more common occurrence then than today. Nonetheless, in presenting these sort of issues in a moralistic play to the audience of the day was a brave and controversial thing to do. Obviously, the views on the these issues have come along way since the time when this play was written, so today's audience adapts the messages in this play to their own morality. The treatment of women, and of Medea, and the circumstances that Medea is faced with, help the audience to, not condone, but understand the reasons for Medea's actions at the end of the play.

In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children and now wants to banish her. Medea plots revenge on Jason after he gives her one day to leave. Medea later acts peculiarly as a subservient woman to Jason who is oblivious to the evil that will be unleashed and lets the children remain in Corinth. The children later deliver a poisoned gown to Jason’s new bride that also kills the King of Corinth.

In Othello, the plot meets the definition of both Aristotle and Shakespeare on a tragedy. Aristotle believed that the plot is the most important element in a play and that plot also clearly points out the problem of any characters to be solved. However, the protagonist of the tragedy play only partially meets the definition of Aristotle’s tragic hero. The play is set in Venice and Cyprus where a Moor, Othello, General of the Venetian army gets secretly married to a Venetian nobleman’s daughter, Desdemona. During the play Iago manipulates Othello because Lieutenant Cassio was promoted ahead of him, and also because he suspects that Othello has had an affair with his wife. “And it is thought abroad that twixt my sheets He’s done my office. I know not if’t be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety” (2.1. 364-367).

In Arthur Miller’s essay “Tragedy and the Common Man”, a picture is painted of a “flaw-full” man, known as the modern hero of tragedies. Miller describes what characteristics the modern tragic hero possesses and how he differs from the heroes depicted by classic Greek playwrights such as Sophocles and Aristotle. In order to understand how drastically the modern hero has evolved, one must first understand the basic characteristics that the heroes created by Sophocles and Aristotle encompass. The Greek tragic heroes, otherwise known as the protagonists, illustrated by tragic Greek playwrights, were never normal people. All heroes were citizens of high class, such as princes. This was due in part because plays were seen as a luxury for

Tragedy shakes the audience by tapping into their own private fears. An undeniable connection drawn by empathy links every audience member to the plight of the character, because the itch of indignation is universal among all humanity. As long as someone has a sense of self, they have a sense of dignity. The character in a tragedy has been wronged by some “flaw”, and there is a fear of never correcting that wrong. Every audience member experiences that fear, and so is shaken by the tragedy.

During the Ancient Greek period, Aristotle, a great philosopher, wrote a book called the Poetics to describe what makes a great tragic play. Using the Oedipus Rex by Sophocles as the basis for his book, Aristotle goes into great detail about plot, character, and much more, breaking up the components of a tragedy. Since Oedipus Rex had a huge part in the creation of Aristotle’s book, it fulfills many of the Greek philosopher’s requirements for a tragic play.

Aristotelian defined tragedy as "the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself." It incorporates "incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions."

When hearing the word Tragedy, it would not be surprising if several different individuals would immediately think of several unique examples of the word. Perhaps one is an opera enthusiast who immediately thinks of Puccini’s La Boheme. Another is a war enthusiast that thinks about History Channel’s new episode highlighting the harshest and bloodiest battles of World War One. Even a third one obsessed with Greek mythology could generate a handful of examples of tragedy. Tragedy, like love or comedy is a universal theme that can be used to entertain, enlighten and excite its audiences. William Shakespeare, a world renown writer, was a master of this genre writing works, including Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Hamlet. Another lesser known

A tragic hero demonstrates three critical effects on the audience. First, the audience emerges an emotional devotion to the tragic hero; second, the audience dreads what may transpire the hero, and finally, after the tragedy strikes, the audience condolences the distressed hero. The independent members of the audience go through a purgation because of these inevitable attachments. Evidently, a tragic hero must be a multiplex and vigorous title character such as Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” and “Antigone”.

Aristotle defines a tragedy as “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”. However, it is his claim that a story must contain six parts in order to be a tragedy that causes much controversy. Many critics argue that William Shakespeare does not follow the guidelines for a tragic story in his famous piece Romeo and Juliet. Their main argument is with the way he presents his tragic elements. But as Lois Kerschen says, “Shakespeare may have altered the classic form of the Greek tragedy, but that does not mean he totally ignored the Greek formula”(261). It is his strong emphasis on certain elements that prove his case. Shakespeare’s contribution of harmatia,

Thesis Statement: Tragedy was a source of entrainment back from the Ancient Greece that was written to tell a story and to pull audiences into feeling remorse, pity and to help them gain an appropriate response about the protagonist. Hamlet, Agamemnon, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” are comparable pieces of literature that shares a similar element of Hamartia.

In Medea, a play by Euripides, Jason possesses many traits that lead to his downfall. After Medea assists Jason in his quest to get the Golden Fleece, killing her brother and disgracing her father and her native land in the process, Jason finds a new bride despite swearing an oath of fidelity to Medea. Medea is devastated when she finds out that Jason left her for another woman after two children and now wants to banish her. Medea plots revenge on Jason after he gives her one day to leave. Medea later acts peculiarly as a subservient woman to Jason who is oblivious to the evil that will be unleashed and lets the children remain in Corinth. The children later deliver a poisoned gown to Jason's new bride that also kills the King of Corinth.

From the times of Aristotle to modern day Boal people have tried to come up with a definition of tragedy that encompasses all of the works they feel to be tragedies. However, there are always a few exceptions to their rules that make their thesis insubstantial. Those who define tragedies all have different elements that they say are necessary in classifying something as a tragedy. Unfortunately for us, no one definition has ever been settled upon that everyone agrees with. The one factor that does seem to be present in every interpretation of what is necessary in a tragedy is the catharsis that is brought up in the viewer. Without that emotional reaction, whether of pity,

After reading this type of tragic play “Oedipus the King” written by Sophocles you can see that the author did a very outstanding form of presenting a tragedy that has the characteristics of mimesis and a tragic hero. Specifically, the writer written the play that would leave many readers to be able to relate to and have a character whom characteristics are noble and basically good. A purpose of tragedy is “catharsis”. In other words, the main reason for a tragedy in a play is to purge an individual of

Reversal, recognition, and suffering are elements that encompass the soul of tragedy- the plot. The dramatic plot, the soul of tragedy, is a, “whole that that which has a beginning, middle, and end” (Aristotle, 1451a19). According to Aristotle, “a good poet often stretched out beyond its capabilities, and is thus obliged to twist the sequence of incident” (Aristotle, 1451b37). With this, he believes that the reversal is the change in fortune, “described from one state of things within the play to its opposite, and that too as we say, the