Essay about Oedipus the King and Aristotle - 629 Words

In Poetics by Aristotle, the author talks about what he feels are the conventions of any successful tragic play. With that in mind perhaps the greatest tragedy from his time period if not ever is Oedipus the King by Sophocles. It fits almost perfectly the majority of the criteria Aristotle sets and so has been considered by some scholars as the perfect tragedy. The main criteria set by Aristotle involves the plot and the plays main character. According to Aristotle, for a tragedy to be both successful and effective there must be a reversal, a change from one state of affairs to its exact opposite, and there must be recognition, a change from ignorance to knowledge on the part of the main character. The plot should not be†¦show more content†¦Recognition on the part of Oedipus also takes place in the play, because the transition that Aristotle talks about clearly occurs. Oedipus goes from ignorance to knowledge and he himself realizes it at the end. However this growth comes at a price as Oedipus loses his wife, mother and his sight (ironically gaining insight in the process) again this adds to the complexity of the play and thus in tandem with reversal proves Aristotles point that a good tragedy contain these elements. As mentioned earlier the main character according to Aristotle must fall from grace, however not because of some vice or depravity, but falls because of some mistake. Again Oedipus fits this criterion perfectly, although he is powerless against his fate, there are some mistakes he does make that might not necessarily have affected the fate predicted by the oracles, but just might have made its blow a lot less harsh. For example his hubris makes him angry and thus blind to the warnings given to him by Tiresias, the priest. He reminds everyone how he stopped the Sphinx! With no help from the birds, the flight of [his] own intelligence hit the mark. Such arrogance in his ownShow MoreRelatedOedipus the King and Things Fall Apart - Tragedies as Defined by Aristotle1512 Words   |  7 PagesOedipus and Things Fall Aparttragedies as defined by Aristotle Almost 2500 years ago Aristotle defined a tragic plot as one containing six essential elements. The first is a hero (sympatheia) who is noble by birth or has risen to a place of power. The hero should also be of good character. Aristotle stated in The Poetics, â€Å"This is the sort of man who is not pre-eminently virtuous and just, and yet it is through no badness or villainy of his own that he falls into the fortune, but rather throughRead MoreOedipus As A Tragic Hero1094 Words   |  5 PagesIn the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus struggles to accept the truth and lets his temper over power him. He can be displayed as a tragic hero. His refusal to accept the truth led to Oedipus’ down fall. 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