Deconstructing Tragedy and the Definition of the Protagonist’s Innocence In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Oedipus meets the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero as divine fate and tragic flaws lead to his downfall. Oedipus’s tragic flaws like hubris, curiosity, and anger, contribute to his unfortunate fate. The components of a perfect tragedy as defined in Aristotle’s Poetics are at the center of Oedipus Rex. The play contains the elements of a perfect tragedy such as
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex Fulfills All of the Requirements of a Tragedy Throughout Poetics, Aristotle describes what traits a tragedy must have to be successful. To support these choices, he makes use of a small analysis of many tragedies, including many of Sophocles’ plays; Oedipus Rex is one of the plays mentioned in Aristotle’s Poetics. Some of these traits include a successful plot structure, recognition scenes, and a correct choice for its hero. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles fulfills all of
The Six Elements of a Tragedy in “Oedipus Rex” Aristotle’s “The Poetics” describes the process of a tragedy. It is not the guide per se of writing a tragedy but is the idea’s Aristotle collected while studying tragedies. A tragedy, according to Aristotle, consists of six major points. The first and most important is the plot, which is what all the other points are based on. Such points are: character, language, thought, melody, and spectacle (Aristotle). A prime example of the usage of these
playwright, Sophocles modeled his play Oedipus Rex on Aristotle's definition and analysis of tragedy.Since according to Aristotle's definition, "A tragedy is an imitation of action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished artistic ornaments, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not narrative with incidents that evokes pity and fear of a persons emotions." Also Aristotle identified the basic six parts a tragedy as being
The philosopher Aristotle wrote his work Poetics as a deconstruction of aesthetics approximately 50 years after the death of Sophocles, the author of Oedipus Rex. Aristotle was a great admirer of the works of Sophocles and is said to have considered Oedipus Rex to be the perfect tragedy and the basis for his thoughts in Poetics. He defines tragedy as, “an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the
without sight. This is what occurred in Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex. A tragedy is composed of six elements that determine the quality of each part. It starts off with a flaw that leads to a hero’s passing, the acknowledgement of these flaws, and lethal punishment of the tragic hero. The play, Oedipus Rex, is about a king who finds out that he killed his own father and married his mother. Throughout the discovery, he doubted the citizens and a new side of Oedipus arose. Aristotle, the creator of the
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. According to Aristotle, plot is one of the most important components of a tragedy. It must have a clear beginning, middle, and a cascade
Discuss the principles of tragedy as defined in Aristotle’s Poetics. Illustrate these principles by examining Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King, in order to establish the link between the theory and practise of tragedy. Analyse the genre of tragedy as one that reveals dilemma and paradox. The advent of modern theater as we know it today began with the worship of Dionysus: the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theater and religious ecstasy in Greek mythology
Comparing A Doll's House and Oedipus Rex Ibsen's drama "A Doll's House", serves as an example of the kind of issue-based drama that distinguishes Ibsen from many of his contemporaries. The play's dialogue is not poetic, but very naturalistic, and the characters are recognizable people. Given the sense of modernity which the play possesses it seems unusual to compare it to a Greek tragedy produced more than two-thousand years previously. On closer examination however, there
Greek Tragedy The Greek drama Oedipus Rex is clearly a tragedy. It definitely meets the five main criteria for a tragedy: a tragic hero of noble birth, a tragic flaw, a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and catharsis. Interestingly, even though Oedipus the King came before Poetics, Sophocles’ play illustrates Aristotle’s rules for classical drama. Oedipus the King particularly displays a tragic emotion, a tragic character, and a tragic fall. Aristotle also writes that such a drama ought to have