A Study of Aristotelian tragedy in Oedipus Essay Example

A Study of Aristotelian tragedy in Oedipus Essay The great Greek myth of Oedipus continues to be integral to the Western literary canon even today. Starting from 5th century B.C., various ancient writers of the Hellenistic era made references to Oedipus in their works. The best known version of the Oedipus myth comes from Sophocles’ trilogy of Theban plays: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. Reading the biography of Oedipus through Aristotle’s conception of tragedy makes for an interesting scholarly exercise. One of Aristotle’s most influential works concerning literary theory is his Poetics. In it he articulates with eloquence and clarity various facets of good theatre. Tragedy is acknowledged as a powerful genre of drama. Aristotle goes on to set out various rules of thumb for making aesthetically and emotionally satisfying tragedies. His concise definition of tragedy is that it is â€Å"an imitation of an action that is serious †¦ with incidents arousing pity and fear, in order to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions.† (Botton 20) He was in opposition to Plato’s critical and disparaging view of theater. Plato had earlier set the debate rolling in The Republic, stating that poets and other artists should be banned from civil society because they induced excessive emotional responses in audiences which countered calm reasoning. Aristotle rebutted this assertion in Poetics, stating that â€Å"although watching tragedies raised emotions, it also purged them. An audience would come away from Oedipus humbled, keen to be better and wiser.† (Botton 20) In many ways, Oedipus satisfies the Aristotelian conception of the tragic hero. For example, the tragic hero is someone who feels responsible for his actions and is conscious of ethical merits and demerits associated with them. In Sophocles’ Oedipus, we see that the author does not contemplate either the acknowledgement of guilt or the blinding. Instead, â€Å"awareness and blinding will be present in Aeschylus because his Oedipus must not see both ‘what he suffered and the bad he did’. According to the author, the individual responsibility celebrated by tragedy is the expression of a people who do not tell history any more, but are aware of making it: a process that Plato could not-or did not want to-recognize, claiming to read tragedy like the continuation of old myths and of old stories, rather than like a new way to tell them again, to involve oneself and to involve us with them in a different way.† (Goretti 1305) We will write a custom essay sample on A Study of Aristotelian tragedy in Oedipus specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Study of Aristotelian tragedy in Oedipus specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Study of Aristotelian tragedy in Oedipus specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer What we also witness in Oedipus is a dimension of the tragic hero engaged in praxis. In Aristotle’s conception of tragedy there is an underlying conflict between ‘absolute necessity’ and ‘freedom’. This is amply evident in crucial life events of Oedipus, who, as the story progresses, is compelled to implement his own demise. For Aristotle, tragedy allows Greeks â€Å"to bear the unbearable contradiction that for thought would remain incomprehensible: ‘the attestation, even in the loss of freedom, of this same freedom’†. (Goretti 1306)Though we do not find direct mention of concepts such as ‘will’ and ‘responsibility’ in the Poetics, â€Å"when Aristotle must indicate the ones who act the tragic action, for him ‘hoi prattonese’ is not sufficient, but he adds ‘kai drontes’. The problem of freedom involves the problem of evil: the evil one does, the evil one suffers or the evil t hat is anyway committed.† (Goretti 1306) In the case of Oedipus, he is clearly aware of how evil forces are acting upon his life – some of which is caused by his own agency. To the coryphaeus who questions him on what a horrible action he has committed and on which god has induced him, Oedipus answers, â€Å"’It was Apollo’, and then, a little afterwards, ‘It was me, miserable, who did it’.† (Jones 45) According to Aristotle, a sense of foreboding and inevitability makes for effective tragedy. Throughout the story, there are numerous crucial decisions taken by Oedipus, which led up to his inevitable demise. Oedipus is not himself aware of the implications of his decisions, but the audience is better informed. The audience experiences ‘pathos’ as Oedipus unwittingly scripts his own fatality. As the Chorus reminds him on occasion, he alone can help. In other words, â€Å"the cause of the trouble is he himself; the chances he has had in his life are precisely the source of the plague. He righteously refuses to avoid discovering his guilt, and when Tiresias finally reveals the truth, Oedipus removes himself, banished, blinded and bereaved, and the curse on Thebes is lifted.† (Diski 49) Seen in this light, Oedipus is not only the most tragic of ancient tragedies, but also a model of Aristotelian tragedy. Oedipus’ ignorance and good intentions are no jus tification for escaping punishment for his wrongdoings, however inadvertent they may have been. Aristotle thought that tragedy should base itself on matters of import in order to be effective. In other words, dramatists should avoid melodrama and trivialization of tragedy for the play to be of substance. Though the drama tries to show the human condition in a realistic fashion, the operative moral plain should carry a timeless quality that equates it to the highest social plain. In Oedipus we find events such as the dire plague in Thebes, the suicide of Jacosta and the self-mutilation of the protagonist. All these events are consistent with Aristotle’s prescriptions for tragedy in its highest form. (Segal 39) Aristotle was the earliest philosopher to describe the aesthetics of tragedy in great detail. In his Poetics, he first makes a distinction between tragedy and other genres such as comedy and epic poetry. A meritorious tragedy is one that â€Å"constitutes an object lesson in the interplay of fate and character.† (Hoffman 17) This usually means the protagonist with a heroic stature (almost always men during Aristotle’s time) â€Å"is led to catastrophe through a tragic flaw in his otherwise admirable behaviour. The psychological interest of the audience in watching the playing out of these sad tales (eg Oedipus Rex, Antigone) is the â€Å"purging† of their emotions through the pity and terror they feel in experiencing the denouement of the tragedy.† (Hoffman 17) In this sense, Oedipus satisfies many of Aristotelian conditions for tragedy. It can be placed in the class of great tragedies that includes Shakespeare’s Othello, Euripides’s Iphigen ia in Aulis and Schiller’s Two Queens in the Hive.

A Characterisc of a Hero essays

A Characterisc of a Hero essays The American Heritage High-school dictionary defines a hero as a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength. Is that what a hero truly is? Does he need only strength and courage? Does a hero not need a mind? Any man can be strong and brave, but dose that mean he is a hero? Nay, a hero must have more. He must be quick-witted and always think with his head and never his fear. A man must be clever (mentally bright, superficially skillful or witty) to be considered a hero. A hero has many characteristics but one of the most important is to be able to think his way out of trouble. Not that a hero shouldnt be physically strong, thats always good, but sometimes you cant fight your way out things without getting yourself killed. Odysseus, king of Ithaca, is a very clever man. He shows that quality time and again in The Odyssey. For example, the Trojan War. The Greeks fought with the Trojans for ten years without success. They had to get over the wall around Troy. No one had any ideas. But then Odysseus and his clever mind thought of a way to trick the Trojans. He ordered the Greeks to build a huge wooden horse in which they could hide. Odysseus figured that when the Trojans wake up to the horse and no Greeks in sight that theyd take the horse as a peace offering and take it inside the city. The Trojans did as Odysseus had guessed and after ten long years the war with Troy was finally over. Another example of Odysseus cleverness is when he met a giant, one-eyed monster named Polyphemus. Odysseus and his men went into this giants cave and stayed to meet him. What they saw when Polyphemus came home was a huge surprise. Polyphemus liked humans, yes he did. He liked them as dinner, lunch, and breakfast. Odysseus was losing his men rapidly while they were trapped in the cave. He had to do something. Suddenly an idea popped ...

Six Sigma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Six Sigma - Essay Example Etc. This concept is also focusing on TRIZ, a problem solving methodology widely adopted in Russia. In this concept, brain storming (random Idea Generation), problem formulation, systematic analysis etc are used. The main aim of Six Sigma is customer satisfaction and product improvement, then only profitability and reduction in cost will sustain. It is providing the product which is ‘defect free process and products’. Six Sigma process is defined as the series of steps and activities that take inputs provided by the suppliers and value provide output for their customers. The Management tries to identify the most important 20 to 30 processes in their business. After identifying these process, the management tries to measure the sigma performance of these processes. The management then tries to identify the lowest performing processes that is having a direct impact on company’s performance. A project team is being formed for improving the poor performance processes. They will retained for a period of 4 to six months wherein they will be having a thorough study on these poor performance processes and taking corrective steps for its improvement to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. â€Å"Unlike other quality initiatives, Six Sigma has a strategic component aimed at not only developing managements commitment to Six Sigma, but their active involvement.† (George Eckes. Wiley, 2003. p.16). Six Sigma as a management strategy is a method for obtaining the objectives of the business. The five major Strategic business objectives are 1. Revenue 2. Profit Margin 3. Customer Satisfaction 4. Growth 5. Employee Satisfaction. In order to implement a Six Sigma strategy the responsibility of management is to identify the important process of the organization and measure their effectiveness and efficiency and to make further improvement for the worst performing process. Six Sigma tactics helps to accomplish greater