Oedipus Rex is one of the famous play by Sophocles. This is the group of three plays. These all plays are related to Oedipus and his Children. Names of other two plays are Antigone and Oedipus in Colonus. These all three plays are connected with each other.
Oedipus Rex is the standard of Aristotelian Tragedy because Aristotel wrote his definition of tragedy on the basis of Oedipus Rex.
Aristotle's definition of Tragedy
"A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, having magnitude, complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasureable language;...in a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arrousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions."
According to Aristotle, tragic hero must be from higher class and a prosperous person (King, queen or a member of a royal family) and contain hamartia which leads him to his downfall. Tragic hero undergoes the suffering and “anagnorisis”, anagnorisis means realization of truth or hero became aware of truth.
In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus exemplified as a tragic hero according to her Aristotle’s concept of tragedy. Oedipus is the son of King Laius, king of Thebes. And when King Laius and Jocasta gave their son to shepherd then a royal family adopt him.
According to Aristotle, protagonist must fall from happiness to misery . In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus fall from happiness to misery when he came to know that he is the son or Jocasta and Laius and he murdered his own father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta.
Protagonist must face “peripeteia”, peripeteia is the downfall or reversal of fortune. Oedipus face downfall when he came to know that he is the son of Jocasta and Laius.
Aristotelian tragedy should arouse pity and fear in audience. Plot of Oedipus Rex is well constructed which is capable of arousing pity and fear in audiences and specially in those who have just merely heard of the story of Oedipus Rex. There is a great emotional impact that create pity and fear in audiences. Oedipus’s fate brings very miserable and shameful end. At first, we can feel pity for a child, Oedipus, when his parents wants to kill him and then we feel pity for the King Laios when he killed by his own son Oedipus. At the end, we feel pity for both Jocasta and Oedipus when we see that they come to know the truth and Jocasta hang herself and Oedipus put his eyes out with the brooches.
We can feel fear as well in Oedipus Rex. At first we see fear when we see that little child, Oedipus, is going to b killed by his own parents.
According to Aristotle, tragedy has embellished language which means that through language we can feel real emotions which author wanted to convey us. Diction is one of the elements of Aristotelian tragedy.
According to Aristotle, other element of tragedy is melody. It is attributive to the Chorus who play songs in tragedy. Chorus should be wholly incorporated just like actors.
In this way, Oedipus Rex is the best example of Aristotelian tragedy. It has all the elements which Aristotle describe for a good tragedy.
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