Research Outline on Aristotle’s meaning of Tragic Hero in ‘Oedipus ‘Play’

Introduction

A tragedy in a piece of work, for example, a drama is defined as a character with noble character is brought into a disastrous end after engaging into a confrontation with a higher force. Later on, this character recognizes the implication of his deeds that led to his or her woes and admits a suitable punishment (Sophocles, p.11). According to Aristotle, tragedy portrays the fall of a moral individual over some disastrous error generating suffering as well as understanding the protagonist and therefore bringing some pity and fear on the audience part. In examining the issue of tragedy, the Oedipus play is discussed and analyzed in this paper. “Oedipus” is a play by Sophocles that tend to examine the classical use of dramatic literal devices of recognition and finding of oneself. The play centers on Oedipus, an individual who while in an attempt to escape from his fate, meets it unexpectedly.

Thesis

Aristotle has effectively used the character of Oedipus as a tragic hero example. In the play, Oedipus refuses is seen refusing to heed to the wise men, for example, Tiresias, who later foresees that Oedipus has murdered his father, Laius. Therefore, Oedipus exists as a tragic character as he fights against the powers of his fate. Moreover, his weakness status makes him pitiable, and this tends to bring some fear to the audience. Consequently, he led to his own downfall, by falling from his own domain and thus experiencing unjustifiable punishment (Finglass, p.21). Therefore Oedipus tragedy in the play exists in the king’s estimable hunt for openness as well as the search for truth, and this is characterized with obstruction from the individuals who tend to hide the truth. The paper discusses the standards that Aristotle outlines regarding the description of the Tragic Hero. It also shows in what ways Exemplifies or refutes Aristotle’s meaning of the term Tragic Hero.

Sophocles’ Oedipus characterizes Aristotle’s definition of a Tragic Hero

In the play, Oedipus who is the protagonist tends to exemplify the definition of a tragic hero by Aristotle. As discussed in the above discussion, Aristotle termed the tragic hero as an individual who is of great character and who lacks own apparent faults, falls from highest to lowest position possible (Kelly, p.13). After falling the individual develops to be the subject of discussion and pity to both the audience and the characters in the play.

Sophocles’ Oedipus refutes on Aristotle’s definition of a Tragic Hero

Aristotle also uses this book as the basis for criticizing Greek tragedies; this is due to the great tragedy that has appeared in this book “Oedipus the King.” By using the guidelines put forward by Aristotle in his book “Poetics” which was later re-published by F.L Lucas to judge whether Sophocles’ work is area tragedy we have to use the rules from other references so that we can come up with our own conclusion. This is because Aristotle had fewer rules hence Sophocles’ work being caught in every rule (Woodruff). According to his simple and few rules, Aristotle believes that each story should have a beginning that gives a clue about the main hero without giving a spoiler alert about the rest of the story. Then the body or the middle part. Lastly, the ending which connects the starting part of the middle to give the truth about the hero.

Conclusion

As seen in the above discussion, Oedipus is among the well-known tragic heroes in drama. He is a character whose fate leads him to a tragic defeat that tends to leave the audience and the other characters in the play feeling expressively overwhelmed. Therefore according to the definition of Aristotle’s meaning of a tragic hero, the Oedipus story brands him a tragic hero. However, in some instances, Oedipus tends to exemplify and refute Aristotle’s meaning of a tragic hero.

Works Cited

Finglass, P. J., ed. Sophocles: Oedipus the King. Vol. 57. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Johnson, Greg, and Thomas R. Arp. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Cengage Learning, 2015.

Kelly, Adrian. Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus. A&C Black, 2013.

Sophocles, Sophocles. Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. BoD–Books on Demand, 2019.

Viswanathan, R. “Emotions in Greek Tragedies.” Language in India 18.10 (2018).

Woodruff, Paul, ed. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford University Press, 2018.