Why Aristotle Viewed Oedipus as the Best Tragic Hero

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex as the Epitome of a Tragic Hero

Thesis

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is the epitome of a tragic hero because he perfectly fits the formula for a tragic hero as set out by Aristotle—that is, he meets each of the four requirements of a tragic hero: he must be better than the average man; he must have manly valor; he must be believable and authentic; and he must have a consistent character.

Outline

I. Oedipus Rex as a tragic hero

a. The requirements of the tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition

b. Sophocles’ Oedipus matches that definition perfectly

c. Thesis

II. First Requirement

a. Be better

b. Oedipus is great—he is king and is loved

c. He wants to do what is right to save the Thebans, which means he must find the murderer of the former king and bring him to justice

III. Second Requirement

a. Have manly valor

b. Oedipus does not shy away from a challenge—that is how he became king in the first place—by solving the riddle of the Sphinx

c. He stands up to protect the Thebans even if it is the cause of his own undoing

IV. Third Requirement

a. He is real

b. He has imperfections like all men; his wrath and temper get the best of him at times

c. His punishment for his sins and crimes are haunting because he comes across as so believable

V. Fourth Requirement

a. Be consistent

b. Like all people, Oedipus is conflicted at times—but this is consistent with his character: he wants the truth, but he also fears the truth

c. He follows through with his intention because he is internally consistent from start to finish

VI. Conclusion

a. Oedipus meets all four requirements of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero so well that he may be considered the epitome of the tragic hero

b. Have there been other tragic heroes? Yes—but Oedipus is the forerunner to them all and thus stands out as the epitome

Bibiliography

Aristotle. (1970). Poetics. (trans. by Gerald Else). MI: University of Michigan Press.

Golden, L. (1976). Epic, tragedy, and catharsis. Classical Philology, 71(1), 77-85.

Johnson, G. & Arp, T. (2018). Perrine’s Literature. Boston, MA: Cengage.

Kanzer, M. (1950). The Oedipus trilogy. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 19(4), 561-572.

Schaper, E. (1968). Aristotle's catharsis and aesthetic pleasure. The Philosophical

Quarterly (1950-), 18(71), 131-143.

Sophocles. (n.d.). Oedipus the King. (trans. By David Gene). Retrieved from

http://abs.kafkas.edu.tr/upload/225/Oedipus_the_King_Full_Text.pdf

In his poetics, Aristotle (1970) explains that in order for a character to be a tragic hero, he must have certain qualities that enable him to appeal to the audience at the same time that his fall can produce in the audience the necessary feelings of pity and fear so that the audience can experience catharsis and have negative emotions purged from the soul (Shaper, 1968). That is the point of tragedy, after all—so it is necessary that the hero of a tragedy have the four points that Aristotle identifies. These points are, first, that the tragic hero must be above the ordinary lot of common men: he must have stature, significance, some ability or quality that makes him better than men. Second, he must possess manly valor—that is, he must be morally good. Third, he must be real, authentic, believable—not so good that no one in the audience can relate to him (which typically means he should have some flaw or fault in this character). Fourth, he should be consistent in terms of character and not one way at one time in the play and then a surprisingly different way at another point in a manner that makes him seem like two completely different people (Johnson & Arp, 2018. Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex not only matches all four of these requirements but also stands out as the epitome of the tragic hero because he comes before all others so perfectly well as an example of a tragic hero. This paper will explain that Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is the epitome of a tragic hero because he perfectly fits the formula for a tragic hero as set out by Aristotle—that is, he meets each of the four requirements of a tragic hero: he must be better than the average man; he must have manly valor; he must be believable and authentic; and he must have a consistent character.

The first way in which Oedipus shows that he is the epitome of the tragic hero is that he is not only better than most men—he is great and by far their better. He is great—a king, loved by all, and praised for his greatness. Yet he does not let any of this go to his head; he sees that his people are suffering and he wants to find the cause. He wants to do what is right to save the Thebans, which means he must find the murderer of the former king and bring him to justice. He even states it himself: “My zeal in your behalf you cannot doubt!” (Sophocles, n.d.). This shows that he is dedicated to addressing their needs, as he is their king, their leader, and their savior.

His greatness leads into his second characteristic—his strength and manly valor. Oedipus is brave and steadfast. He does not shy away from a challenge—indeed, that is how he became king in the first place—by solving the riddle of the Sphinx. Sophocles makes this point clear: “You that live in my ancestral Thebes, behold this Oedipus, — Him who knew the famous riddles and was a man most masterful; not a citizen who did not look with envy on his lot” (Sophocles, n.d.). And now in the midst of their suffering from the plague, he stands up to protect the Thebans even if it is the cause of his own undoing.

At the same time, Oedipus is completely real. He has imperfections like all men; his wrath and temper get the best of him at times—indeed, it is his wrath that led him to kill his father at the crossroads in the first place, not knowing it was his father, of course (Kanzer, 1950). As Golden (1976) notes, he is not so great that he is godlike—but he is human and his flaws make him so. His flaws are eventually what lead to his downfall. But his punishment for his sins and crimes are haunting because he comes across as so believable. He is convincing as a tragic hero because he comes across as a real person, completely genuine. He is true to life, and not just some idealized form or shape that one cannot identify with. In Oedipus is a human being that everyone can understand, for everyone sees in him a reflection of his own character in some way.