FREE ESSAY ON OEDIPUS REX IS A TRAGEDY

OEDIPUS REX IS A TRAGEDY

Oedipus Rex is a Tragedy
Many things can describe a tragedy. However, according to definition of a tragedy by
Aristotle, there are only five. The play has to have a tragic hero, preferably of noble
stature. Second, the tragic hero must have a tragic flaw. Because of that flaw, the hero
falls from either power or death. Due to the fall, the tragic hero discovers something.
Finally, there must be catharsis in the minds of the audience.
Oedipus Rex qualifies as a tragedy. It fits all the characteristics as defined by
Aristotle. The tragic hero of a play is a man of some social standing and personal
reputation, but sufficiently like ourselves in terms of his weaknesses that we feel fear
and pity when a tragic flaw, rather than an associate, causes his downfall. Oedipus is
the tragic hero in this play for many reasons. Even though he does not know it, he
fulfills the oracle's prophecy by killing his father, Laius, and then sleeping with his
mother, Jocasta. His father was just a tragic mistake. Oedipus thought that the person he
killed was just a random person that was harassing him.
Oedipus definitely has a tragic flaw; it is his quickness to take a position and stubborn
adherence in spite of personal hazard. Oedipus makes decisions publicly for all to hear,
making reconsideration difficult for a proud person such as himself. When Creon returns
with information from the oracle concerning the ills of Thebes and wishes to tell Oedipus
privately, as we learn later that it could be bad news for Oedipus. Oedipus tells Creon,
Let them all hear it. It is for them I suffer, more than for myself. This was the first
time that Oedipus is confronted with the idea that he might have fulfilled the prophecy.
He is the one that is named as the killer of Laius. Oedipus directs any inhabitant of
Thebes that know of any facts of Laius' murder to come forward without fear of reprisal,
concurrently forbidding the withholding of information. Oedipus reaffirms his stand to
avenge the murdered king promising the consequences do not diminish because of one's
position: And as for me, this curse applies no less If it should turn out that the
culprit is my guest here, Sharing my hearth. Oedipus has said all of this before knowing
any evidence. If he had just one clue that he could have been the unwitting culprit,
would he have acted differently? As a strongly principled man, Oedipus, like Socrates
when faced with compromising his principles, chooses death over compromise. When Oedipus
realizes he may in fact be the culprit, he says You are aware, I hope, that what you say
means death for me, or exile at the least.
Oedipus's quickness to take a position causes him to gouge his own eyes out and lose his
power. It also costs Oedipus his wife and mother, along with his kids. No one will marry
his daughter, because she has come from an incestuous marriage. Since no on e will marry
his daughter, and his wife killed herself, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes in order to no
be able to see what the world has done too him. The only problem is the fact that almost
all of the Thebes know what he did, so they know that he killed Laius.
Oedipus discovers that he has to do something to recover from his fall from power. The
chorus cannot believe that even a great man like Oedipus, was brought low by destiny. He
abdicates the thrown to Creon, and asks him to take care of his kids, and Creon agrees.
He tells his kids to have a better life than he did. He feels that he is messing up his
kids' life more than his own, especially his daughter. He thinks that no man in the world
would marry her because of her incestuous birth.
From the audience's standpoint, they can take away many meanings from this play. In the
times when this play was written, the audience believed that the gods controlled what was
going to happen to them. It was their destiny. Oedipus Rex proves to strengthen their
belief in the gods. This is done by Oedipus fulfilling everything that was prophesized
for him to do. Laius and Jocasta sent Oedipus to his death, but the Shepard couldn't do
it. Oedipus then hears the prophecy in Corinth, and flees. On his subsequent journey, he
kills his father, comes to Thebes, and marries his mother.