Literature is characterized by genres that have evolved over time. The tragedy is one of the most prominent genres of literature and it has been around for several centuries. As a genre, tragedy has been utilized by various writers, poets, and philosophers among others. Aristotle is one of the foremost authorities on tragedy as a genre of literature. Aristotle’s “Poetics” is one of the earliest works of literature to be devoted to the subject of what constitutes tragedy in literature.
Aristotle is of the view that tragedy as a genre is best used to describe a hero’s fall from glory through a miscalculation of some sort. The hero often meets his tragedy through his own actions thereby entering into a phase of misfortune and suffering (reversal of fortunes) and consequently arousing sympathy from the audience. The hallmark of any tragedy is the tragic hero who is often the main protagonist in any story. In “Poetics”, Aristotle is of the view that error is a vital constituent in a tragic hero because in ordinary circumstances good people do not encounter misfortunes and vice versa.
A tragic hero is a man whose fortunes are manifested within misfortunes, “the kind of man who neither is distinguished for excellence and virtue, nor comes to grief on account of baseness and vice, but on account of some error” (Fowler, 2011). When analyzing the position of any main character, Aristotle defines the hero as a character who has the qualities of Hamartia, Spoudaios, and Peripeteia. When those terminologies are translated, they stand for “nobility, error in judgment, and a reversal of fortunes” respectively (Kennedy, J. & Gioia, D. (2007). This paper uses Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero to examine Oedipus who is the main character in Sophocles’ drama “Oedipus Rex”. The essay will draw on Aristotle’s “Poetics” among other scholarly materials to show how Oedipus is the ultimate representation of a tragic hero owing to his error in judgment, reversals in fortune, and origins in nobility.
The play “Oedipus” is set in the ancient Greek society and the main character is also the title character. The scenes of the play unfold in the ancient city of Thebes where Oedipus is introduced to the audiences as a man who has traces to nobility; “I Oedipus whom all men call Great” (Griffith, 2006). The main protagonist’s reputation appears to precede him and he is quite aware of this fact. Oedipus’ claim to nobility can be traced to three different facts.
First, Oedipus is born as a prince to King Laius and Queen Jocasta. Consequently, Oedipus is noble by birth and he is the rightful heir to the throne in Thebes. Oedipus has also connections to the throne of Corinth where he has been adopted by King Polybius and Queen Merope. Finally, Oedipus gains nobility when his own people voluntarily elect him as the King of Thebes. In the “Poetics”, Aristotle recognizes Oedipus’ nobility by noting that his family background gives him a valid claim to heroism. The main character also goes beyond the common connection to nobility because various sources concur that indeed he is a ‘great king’.
His subjects have immense respect for him and their reverence for him is not in doubt. On the other hand, Oedipus takes his role as king seriously, he shows genuine compassion, and that is why he declares a curse to the individual who is responsible for bringing the plague to Thebes. In the prologue to “Oedipus”, the audience is informed that the King has been ‘losing sleep’ over the predicament that his city is facing (Fowler, 2011). All these facts mean that the main protagonist conforms to Aristotle’s connection between nobility and tragic heroes.
In the plot of “Oedipus”, an unfortunate plague has set upon the City of Thebes and it is up to the king to come to the rescue of his people. The only solution to the city’s problem can only be found in the king is able to find the person who murdered King Laius, the city’s former ruler. Therefore, with all the bravado he can muster, the former King pronounces a curse on the person who murdered the former king: “Upon the murderer, I invoke this curse – whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many – may he wear out his life in misery to miserable doom!” (Kennedy & Gioia, 2007).
This declaration becomes the main character’s tragic error or Hamartia as described by Aristotle. The misfortune with this declaration is due to the fact that the King makes his pronunciation without gathering all the relevant facts. According to Aristotle, the tragic error is the main manifestation of a tragic hero and it sets out the basis of his fate. Oedipus’ character aligns perfectly with Aristotle’s Hamartia and consequently the stature of a tragic hero.
In his quest to accomplish his mission, King Oedipus enlists the services of a prophetess. The prophetess is aware of the truth but she refuses to reveal it to the king because she believes that this information will bring harm to him. This incidence is a continuation of the hero’s error. The king has enlisted the services of Teiresias the blind prophetess because he trusts her. However, the king is not able to trust the prophetess’s judgment that a revelation of Lauis’ murderer would bring misfortunes to him (Kennedy & Gioia, 2007).
To make matters worse, Oedipus becomes enraged with the fact that the prophetess knows the murderer but she cannot reveal it to him. The king insults the prophetess with the view of extorting the secret out of her. This mistake does not align with Oedipus’ nobility and he should have trusted the judgment of the seer without questioning it. After being pressed by the king, Teiresias states that Oedipus “shall be proved father and brother both to his own children in his house; to her that gave him birth, a son and husband both; a fellow sower in his father’s bed with that same father that he murdered” (Dawe, 1982). When this truth is revealed to Oedipus, his inevitable descent begins.
After realizing that he murdered his father and slept with his mother, the king pokes out his own eyes so that he does not have to bear witness to his crime. Thus begins the reversal of the King’s fortunes from a noble ruler to a murderous and incestuous human being. The audience also begins to express pity and fear towards the misfortunes of the main character and this development coincides with Aristotle’s description of a tragic hero. Aristotle’s description of a tragic hero calls for a character who meets a type of fate that he does not deserve but one that he causes unto himself. Furthermore, the fate of a hero must also occur in the full glare of an audience.
Everything that happens to Oedipus happens after he had made a declaration to his subjects. When it comes to tragedy as a genre, “it must portray a hero who, in a moral sense, is worthy of respect (spoudaios) and who makes a significant intellectual (not moral) error which leads to his downfall from happiness to misery,” (Forman, 2009). Consequently, it is important to analyze the nature of Oedipus’ error. One school of thought argues that his ego, pride, and temper are the factors that prompt Oedipus to error.
Consequently, the hero’s error can be interpreted as a moral one. However, further analysis into the actions of Oedipus reveals that the plague that befalls upon his people is the main reason he is reacting in the first place. Oedipus’s concern for his kingdom is an intellectual error and not a moral one. Oedipus is also at fault for killing his father King Louis. This action is also intellectual because he does so under provocation and as an act of self-defense. When all these actions are analyzed, they constitute an intellectual error that aligns with the explanation that is provided by Aristotle.
Fate and reversal of fortunes is also another important factor in Aristotle’s Hamartia. A tragic hero’s status and actions have to align with fate. This fact is not lost on Oedipus, who before he is born; “King Laius is warned by an oracle that any son born to him and Jocasta would rise up and kill his father and sleep with his mother” (Golden, 1990). An oracle delivers the same message to Oedipus and his fate appears to be sealed from the beginning. Oedipus goes on to become a great king and at one point, this fate appears doubtful. However, the reversal of fortunes becomes evident after his fate is sealed. The forces that are behind the king’s fate are powerful to the extent that his stature appears irrelevant. Once the king’s fortunes are reversed it becomes evident that he might have been trying to avoid his fate through his noble actions and service to his people.
In the play, Aristotle’s Peripeteia or reversal of fortunes is further perpetuated by the fact that a man who was once ‘three times a noble’ ends up becoming ‘thrice miserable’ (Dawe, 1982). First, Oedipus loses his kingship within the realm of Thebes. The king is also unable to assume power in Corinth upon the death of his adoptive father. Finally, the King becomes blind and this means that he cannot see the things that had made him great. Without tasting death, the king’s fortunes are reversed and he has to endure his newly found status. The prophecy of Teresias comes to pass within a short time.
Aristotle claims that a hero is defined by three distinct elements namely ‘nobility, error in judgment, and a reversal of fortunes’. Oedipus the main character in the play by the same name exemplifies all of these elements. The king considers himself a man of great nobility and this view is also shared by his subjects. Aristotle himself considers Oedipus an exemplification of a tragic hero together with other famous literary characters such as Thyestes, Telephus, and Meleager. Oedipus tragic error came when he sought to reveal the person who murdered King Laius. Eventually, Oedipus learns of his error in judgment and he is forced to spend the rest of his days on earth dethroned and like a blind man.
References
Dawe, R. D. (1982). Sophocles: Oedipus Rex. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Forman, J. (2009). Classical Greek and Roman drama: An annotated bibliography. New York: Scarecrow Press.
Fowler, A. (2011). Genre and the literary canon. New Literary History, 11(1), 97-119.
Griffith, D. (2006). Theatre of Apollo: Divine justice and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. New York: McGill-Queen’s Press.
Golden, L. (1990). Poetics: a translation and commentary for students of literature. New York: Scarecrow Press.
Kennedy, J. & Gioia, D. (2007). Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, and drama (10th ed.). Boston: Boston Press.