Oedipus Rex Essay, Research Paper

In his Poeticss, Aristotle defined the term calamity as a adult male non pre-eminently virtuous and merely, whose bad luck, nevertheless, is brought upon him non by frailty or corruption, but by some mistake in opinion the alteration in the hero s luck must non be from wretchedness to happiness, but on the contrary, from felicity to wretchedness. From this definition, he farther expanded it by specifying the profile of the tragic hero. I agree with Aristotle s positions in which he considered the best calamity of all time written was Sophacle s Oedipus Rex. He felt that a calamity should dwell of the hero s goodness and high quality, a tragic defect in which the hero makes fatal mistakes in opinion which finally lead to his ruin, and the absence of freewill in the tragic hero s life.

Oedipus was a good swayer: merely, compassionate and sympathetic. When the priests of Thebes approached him, pleading for aid on behalf of the people of Thebes who were enduring from decease and dearth. Oedipus instantly agreed and promised them that he would make his best in work outing the jobs, stating that his bosom bore the weight of his ain and all of his people s sorrows. He promised to convey everything to visible radiation. Oedipus s high quality was besides apparent in the drama, non merely through his ranking of the male monarch of Thebes, but besides through his intelligence which was shown when Oedipus was the lone individual able to trail the Sphinx off with the right reply to her conundrum.

However, Oedipus was non a perfect adult male. His tragic defect was that of obstinacy, impulsiveness and most of all, his great sum of pride. When he left Corinth, he met an cortege on the manner to Thebes. There, the lead

Er of the horse-drawn passenger car ordered him out of the manner. Oedipus lost his pique and killed everyone in the cortege due to his impulsiveness and folly. When Oedipus was subsequently crowned King of Thebes he learned from Teiresias that it was himself who had killed King Lauis. Oedipus did non believe him and insulted the blind prophesier, naming him names like insolent villain. His pride refused to allow him believe he had killed his ain male parent which lead him to his ruin.

Oedipus besides had no freewill. He had perfectly no say in his life. When he was born, Apollo s prophet predicted that he would kill his male parent and get married his female parent, to which his parents decided to abandon him on the mountain-side and go forth him to decease. However, destiny intervened and Oedipus shortly found himself being adopted by the King and Queen of Corinth. When Oedipus solved the conundrum of the Sphinx, he could non hold known that he would stop up get marrieding his ain female parent. When he met King Lauis, he could non hold known that he had killed his ain male parent. Whichever manner you look at him, Oedipus had no free will- merely because he did non recognize the effects of his actions because he had no cognition of the significance of everything he did. All these mistakes in opinion he had made led to his eventual ruin.

Oedipus Rex is a perfect illustration of what Aristotle meant by a calamity. It talks about a adult male who has no say in what path his life would take, a adult male who one time had everything. He was a male monarch, a good hubby and male parent, a adult male contented with his batch in life who finally lost his position, married woman, kids and place. He brings us sympathy merely because he was non evil or foolish, merely human and fallibal.