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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page essay that employs Aristotle's definition of tragedy to discuss the elements of Oedipus Rex. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_kharied.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the public have understood this theater genre. Aristotles Poetics was composed roughly 50 years after the death of the Greek playwright Sophocles. Aristotle was a great admirer of Sophocles and
considered his play Oedipus Rex to be the perfect tragedy (McManus, 1999). Therefore, examination of Oedipus Rex provides the ideal medium for understanding Aristotles definition of tragedy. Concept of
high estate Aristotle specifies that a tragedy should concern one who is "renowned and prosperous--a personage like Oedipus, Thyestes or illustrious men of such families" (Poetics section 2, part XIII).
Aristotle felt that a classic tragedy could not have an ordinary person as its protagonist, but must, rather, feature the circumstances of someone nobly born or high in the
echelons of society. In other words, it had to be someone who was capable of experiencing a dramatic downfall. The story of Oedipus more than qualifies in this regard because
Oedipus is, first of all, of noble birth, born to Laius, King of Thebes, and his wife Jocasta. Exposed on the mountainside because Laius fears the prophecy that his son
will kill him, Oedipus is than raised by Polybus, King of Corinth and later establishes himself as ruler of Thebes after fulfilling the prophecy and killing his father. Concept
of tragic flow Aristotle also stipulates that the plot of a tragedy should follow a logical tragic flow. Aristotle writes that "a person of a given character should speak or
act in a given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability, just as this event should follow that by necessary or probably sequence" (Poetics section 2, part
XV). In Oedipus, the play is constructed so that the tragedy unfolds logically and inevitably. Laius hearing the prophecy, rejects his infant son; therefore, Oedipus does not know who his
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