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 Aristotlethat 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 Aristotles definition
b. Sophocles Oedipus matches that definition perfectly
c. Thesis
II. First Requirement
a. Be better
b. Oedipus is greathe 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 challengethat is how he became king in the first placeby 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 timesbut 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 Aristotles 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? Yesbut 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). Perrines 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 allso 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 valorthat is, he must be morally good. Third, he must be real, authentic, believablenot 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 Aristotlethat 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 menhe is great…
