The Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy Oedipus the King Essay

The Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy: Oedipus the King by Sophocles Works Cited Not Included Oedipus the King is an excellent example of Aristotles theory of tragedy. The play has the perfect Aristotelian tragic plot consisting of paripeteia, anagnorisis and catastrophe; it has the perfect tragic character that suffers from happiness to misery due to hamartia (tragic flaw) and the play evokes pity and fear that produces the tragic effect, catharsis (a purging of emotion). Oedipus the King has the ingredients necessary for the plot of a good tragedy, including the peripeteia. According to Aristotle, a peripeteia is necessary for a good plot. Peripeteia is a reversal in his fortune from happiness to disaster (Abrams 322). Oedipuss†¦show more content†¦Oedipus questions Jocasta about Laius how did he look? Describe him (817) until Jocasta can not answer any more questions. The messenger then arrives to tell Oedipus that his father, Polybus, has died. Ironically, while relieving Oedipuss fear of killing his own father, the messenger causes even greater fears by telling Oedipus that Polybus is not his biological father. Oedipus then discovers that he was brought to Polybus when he was an infant and the shepherd found Oedipus on Mount Cithaeron. The shepherd unwillingly admits that he knew that Oedipus is the son of Jocasta and Laius. Finally, Oedipus discovers all the facts about his true identity and that he killed his own father and married his mother. The peripeteia and the anagnorisis lead to the catastrophe in the end. The catastrophe is a scene of suffering for the protagonist. When Oedipus discovers his true identity he says I stand revealed at last - cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with theses hands! (1308-10). The catastrophe continues as Oedipus finds Jocasta, who had hung herself. Oedipus blinds himself with her dress pins so he can no longer see the ugliness of his life around him and in the end flees his country. According to Aristotle, the hero of tragedy should be a man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change toShow MoreRelatedThe Perfect Aristotelian Tragedy: Sophocles Oedipus the King918 Words   |  4 Pagesconsidered Sophocles Oedipus the King to be a nearly perfect example of Greek tragedy. His reasons were based on the structural perfection of the play, in which the protagonists recognition of his circumstances (anagnorisis) comes at the same moment as his reversal of fortune (peripeteia). But the terms whereby Aristotle defines character in Greek tragedy are slightly harder to work out where is the hubris of Oedipus? 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