The As A Work Of Art

A “tragedy, for Shakespeare, is the genre of uncompensated suffering” (Dutton and Howard, 2003, p. 9). To really understand the play Othello is to truly understand a tragedy; thus, this researcher will analyze Aristotle’s view point and compare it to phrases (or quotes) from Shakespeare’s Othello.

In the play Antigone, Greek author Sophocles uses tragedy to convey morals and catharsis to educate and provide a deeper meaning for the audience. One way he does this is by showing how characters acting on emotion often cause the downfall of themselves and others. These emotional confrontations of characters in the play provide context for the audience to relate to; as well as bring the audience to catharsis. In Antigone, the two most prominent characters acting on emotions are Creon and Antigone.

For a play titled Ajax, the exposition serves as a curious contrast to the rest of the story. By introducing the tragedy in media res with Athena and Odysseus, Sophocles skips past the fuss of the armor debacle and instead delves straight into the aftermath of the event. Athena, who knows of Ajax’s deadly intentions, chooses to redirect his violence towards the innocent livestock. Seeing that this act was Ajax’s definitive moment, not including it in the play raises the question, what role does Athena play in setting the course of the story? It is generally thought Athena is callous and cruel and that she is punishing Ajax for his attempt upon the chieftains, but there is hardly anything in the play to justify such assumptions. I will argue Athena’s spell over Ajax is an act of salvation rather than an act of punishment and through this intervention Ajax attains honor after death with his proper burial. This not only provides insight into Athena’s behavior but also brings the play to a full circle with the reintegration of Odysseus as an instrument of Athena’s intentions.

In the Poetics, Aristotle provides an outline of how the artist is to portray or represent the perfect Tragedy. A Tragedy, of course, was nothing more than a drama, in which the characters appeared "better" than in real life (in a comedy, they appeared "worse," according to Aristotle). Aristotle's Poetics makes several references to other dramatic works to illustrate his points, but he most commonly calls upon The Odyssey to support his argument for how a dramatic structure should be designed. However, along with the Odyssey, Aristotle extensively references Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both poetic works were enormously popular in their time (the former had been passed down orally for generations, and the latter won the top prizes at the dramatic festivals). Therefore, Aristotle is comfortable using both to support his viewpoint concerning Tragedy and the Tragic Hero. This paper will analyze the standards that Aristotle sets out concerning the definition of the Tragic Hero and show how Sophocles' Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a Tragic Hero.

The beauty of tragedy is its ability to capture the audience and evoke a particular emotion in it. Tragedy, as Aristotle defines it, “accomplish[es] by means of pity and fear the cleansing [katharsis] of these states of feeling” (Poetics 1449b 27-28). Aristotle claims that tragedy offers some certain value for the audience – a social and psychological value – through the empathy it sets in place for the audience. Sophocles’ tragic play, Antigone, is no exception to the magnificent use of pathos with the intent to create a valuable katharsis in tragedy for the audience. The intense feelings of suffering felt by the audience are beneficial to those watching as they experience these feelings in

In the Greek plays Oedipus Rex (by Sophocles); Antigone (by Sophocles); and Medea (by Euripides), they all share three common motifs, which are determination, homicide, and suffering. In Greek plays there is always main characters with a determination to find or do something. This usually always leads to a homicide. This makes the plays tragedies and causes characters great suffering.

I saw the play Ajax on November 3 at Highland Park High school. The play was directed by the imaginative Christopher Eastland. The show was originally written by Sophocles however later translated by Bryan Doerries. The theme of Ajax is suicide does not end all problems, people around you love you much more than you may realize, even if they are your worst enemy. Ajax is about a man named Ajax living after war with the disease of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . Ajax and Odysseus had an argument over who would inherit the arms of Ajax’s best friend, so odysseus creates a contest to see who would win. Ajax loses, and wants nothing more than to kill Odysseus, but instead Ajax is blinded by Athena, the protector of Odysseus, and he starts to kill animals instead. When he finally realizes what he had done, Ajax wants to kill himself , but everyone tries to convince him not too. Later Ajax commits suicide, and people do not know what to do with his body. So Teucer, Ajax’s half brother, came to help and said we should bury the body, but other such as Menelaus and Agamemnon said you can not bury the body, because he

Aristotle, the great fourth-century Greek philosopher labeled this tragedy as “an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude: in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties…by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (qtd. in Kennedy & Gioia 885). Aristotle was portraying the epic Shakespearean drama, Othello. Aristotle prescribed three main elements for a disastrous theater recipe: First is a hamartia, or a tragic flaw in the main character that leads to the demise; second, catharsis or an emotional release of the audience’s sensations derived from the actors, so they seem to have felt they have learnt something about the play; and lastly, anagnorisis or the character’s astonishment of something that may have not before realized (Kennedy & Gioia 856-857). The protagonist in Shakespeare’s Othello satisfies all of Aristotle’s necessities for a tragic hero, as Othello is the character of magnificent status, which falls from that status of power to one of shame because of his hamartia. Furthermore the plot of Othello contains an influential katharsis through its peak and deduction, and an anagnorisis when Othello comprehends that Desdemona and Iago are not who they appear to

As art becomes more prevalent, intricate, and sophisticated in culture so does its impact on a viewer. A viewer must experience a work of art and connect to it in order for it to be considered effective. Ajax by Sophocles can be considered a work of art because of its ability to connect to an audience. Sophocles’ play follows a warrior named Ajax who was threatening to kill Odysseus to obtain the armor he believed was rightfully his, which causes the goddess Athena to cast a curse leaving him blind with rage and in a state where he slaughters hordes of animals believing that they are his enemies. Ajax later becomes distraught to the point of suicide. Bryan Doerries produced a version of Ajax to relate to veterans through his company, Theater of War. This company’s specific purpose is to "de-stigmatize psychological injury, increase awareness of post deployment psychological health issues, disseminate information regarding available resources, and foster greater family community, and troop resilience" through the performance of Ancient Greek plays to military and civilian communities (Outside the Wire). Because of this purpose, the audience is able to form an intense connection with Ajax and fulfill the purpose of art. While looking at Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy and the six most important features of a tragedy, it becomes apparent that connection through all six features is the only way to create effective art.

The word tragedy is defined as a play which deals with tragic events that ends in an unpredictable way. The ending is horrific because it displays the destruction of the protagonist, this leaves the audience with such a bad feeling. In the early 6th century, ancient Greek’s created the concept of theatre that still highly influences modern day one-act plays. Tragedy and other forms of plays are still very commonly used today and might not be of existence if it wasn’t for the ancient Greek’s. When looking at the Ancient Greek play, “Antigone” by Sophocles’ compared to the modern day one-act play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, the audience begins to understand the influence that ancient Greek tragedy has on one-act plays today.

Tragedy as an element of the human experience has been the subject of many of the great works of literature written in the Western tradition. For some, tragedy embodies the highest form of humanity. It is through suffering that we are able to reveal ourselves most completely. Others see tragedy as an element of morality where we are to learn well the lessons of those who tempt the gods. The Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, outlined a theory of tragedy as archetypal drama in his classic work, the Poetics. He uses the play by Sophocles, Oedipus the King (hereafter "Oedipus"), as the standard model by which all other tragedies are measured. In Aristotle's view, a perfect

Throughout time, the tragedy has been seen as the most emotionally pleasing form of drama, because of its ability to bring the viewer into the drama and feel for the characters, especially the tragic hero. This analysis of tragedy was formed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, and also noted in his Poetics (guidelines to drama). As a playwright, Shakespeare used Aristotle’s guidelines to tragedy when writing Othello. The play that was created revolved around the tragic hero, Othello, whose tragic flaw transformed him from a nobleman, into a destructive creature, which would inevitably bring him to his downfall. This transformation follows an organic movement of the complex plot from the beginning, middle, to the end of the drama while

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 these requirements.

In Sophocles’ play, Ajax, the Atreidai as leaders lack the ability to acknowledge and understand the importance of their actions and the effect these have on society. Appearances are reality in the eyes of those who do not know the reasoning or implications behind a decision, and as leaders Agamemnon and Menelaus disrupt the society by awarding Achille’s armor to Odysseus and not to Ajax. In Ajax, Achilles’ armor symbolizes heroism, bravery, courage, physical strength but more importantly heroic ethics. Heroic ethics, was a set of values and ideas which prioritized and glorified the valor of an individual through which they gained honor in society. Heroes were to confront their enemies in the battle field and return home victorious or die fighting. However, this value was undermined by the Atreidai when they allowed anger to cloud their judgment and gave Odysseus

The history of art dates back to ancient times. Artwork can be, and was, found around the world. What makes art interesting is that it can be created in any way, shape or form with any materials. It seems that the artwork can also tell us a lot about the artist. Art seems to be simply, a direct, visual reflection of the artist’s life. Therefore, one can assume that an artist’s life experiences and beliefs directly influence their art. If we look at examples from different periods of art we will be able to see the connection between the artist and the art.