The Six Elements Of Tragedy In Ancient Greece

Tragedy can be defined in several different ways, but the most common way of defining tragedy is from Aristotle approach “Tragedy is an imitation of an action which is serious, complete, and substantial. It uses enriched language to show its part of drama, and not narration” (Murray 64). Aristotle, a prolific comedic playwright of ancient Greece, developed a method to define tragedy in six different elements. These six elements of tragedy include: Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Song. Aristotle’s elements of tragedy are so broad that they can be applied to any ancient Greece tragedy due to the fact that most tragedies follow a similar format. One of the many Greek tragedies can apply Aristotle’s elements of tragedy such as when …show more content…
One of the constituents of tragedy that really is effective in Oedipus Rex is Plot. This constituent allows the play to follow through a series of actions that helps the audience see the action of the characters. The plot was explained effectively because each action that took place allowed to find the murderer of Laius the former king of Thebes. Without a structured plot the tragedy would be different because the murder of Laius would be unsolved which means that there would not be a climax in the tragedy to solve. The importance of the tragic plot can relate to the definition of tragedy itself because it is a representation of a tragedy which is complete. The second constituent that is effective in the tragedy is Character. This element allows us to view the actions and greed of Oedipus on how he wanted to be the ruler of Thebes. Although, Oedipus wanted to become the ruler he is known to be a tragic character because he goes beyond his limits to find the cure of the plague that has been imposed on Thebes. Oedipus moral actions shows how he wanted to be the ruler of Thebes with good intentions and not bad ones. The constituent of character is powerful to the audience because it gave important feedback on how the characters should act appropriately to the character being portrayed. In this case it is well expressed that once Oedipus was named king he wanted to get rid of the plague that happened in Thebes. The constituent of tragedy that was ineffective was thought because at first Oedipus planned the attack on Laius, but at the end a Recognition happened to Oedipus that made him change. Oedipus at the end once he was king he wanted to solve the plague which stated that the murder of Laius needed to be solved. The constituent of thought should have been more analyzed such as why did Oedipus wanted to be king in the first place, and he should of ask