Poetics

Aristotle once said, “A man does not become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Aristotle believed that a tragic hero was one who was noble by nature yet endowed with a tragic flaw or hamartia. This hero is oftentimes morally equivalent to normal people, allowing the audience to relate to them. Over the course of their life, different virtues show up but they’re eventually matched with an imperfection and that leads them to make an irreversible mistake when faced with a…

Oedipus Rex, a tragedy written by Sophocles, features Oedipus as a tragic hero with an unavoidable fate. This tragedy explores Oedipus’ quest for his true identity. His search for Laius’ murderer leads him on a search for the truth regarding his birth. Eventually, Oedipus discovers he has committed murder and incest, resulting in his exile from Thebes and his ultimate downfall. According to Aristotle’s view on tragedies and tragic heroes, a tragic hero must possess a tragic flaw that leads to…

A tragic hero is a literary character who makes judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. Aristotle said “ a hero suffers more than he/she deserves”. He believed a very long time ago that to be a tragic hero, the character must meet five criterias. The character’s fate must be greater than deserved, excessive pride, the discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero’s own actions, a reversal of fortune brought about because of the hero’s error in…

A tragic hero possesses all the great abilities that make a good man except for the ability to acknowledge their own flaws. The great king Oedipus falls off his throne due to these same flaws in his character. In scene ii of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles uses the literary device of irony to develop the central idea of ignorance, and how it can affect one’s actions and future. Ignorance can plague a man’s mind and affects his whole life and his actions. Oedipus was from another land originally, and…

In the script, Oedipus the King, the author Sophocles displays a perfect model of tragedy. The main character, Oedipus, experiences a tragic downfall caused by his undeniable fate. Throughout the story key components help to contribute to the idea of a tragedy. Tragedy is describes the downfall of a hero through fate, hubris, and the will of the gods.Throughout the story the closer Oedipus gets to the truth, the closer he is to tragedy. When Oedipus finds out the prophecy of him marrying his…

Nawabbir Boparai Ms. Cheney ENG-3U0E April 26, 2015 Macbeth Essay – Macbeth a Tragic Hero A tragic hero is a person of noble birth who possesses heroic qualities but is destined to great destruction and struggles against his fate. Tragic heroes bring downfall to their own recognition by the choices they make which ultimately leads them to certain death or suffering. Macbeth from William Shakespeare’s book “Macbeth” is a tragic hero as he is a well-respected man who displays courageous service…

Tragedy is meant to invoke many emotions within its audience, particularly of the negative variety, and Oedipus the King is no different. An audience watching this Greek play may, in fact, experience both pity and fear at the same time. Firstly, the audience pities the character of Oedipus because he is a character an audience can easily relate to thrust into terrible circumstances. Oedipus has flaws just like any other human being, such as arrogance and paranoia, but he is all around a decent…

A tragic hero is a character who makes a decision leading to their downfall. A tragic hero play follows the life of this hero. In a tragic hero play, there are three plot points that the tragic hero goes through. These include the character possessing a flaw, the character having their fortune change from helpful to harmful, and the audience understanding the hero. An example of this style of writing is Oedipus the King, by Sophocles. This play follows the character named Oedipus, the tragic…

Oedipus had a horrible life, though he was the one with the terrible destiny, many people were connected to him and suffered the consequences. One of those people was his mother and wife Jokaska, who arguably suffered the most, next to Oedipus. Aristotle was a soft determinist, which means that all of our actions are part of a causal chain, but we are still apart of that chain and can make right or wrong decisions. Though the gods sealed Oedipus’ fate, philosophers such as Aristotle would argue…

Horrible things happen to people every day, whether it be because of their own flaws or flaws of others. The story of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, has these examples of harm. Classic Greek tragedy is when a person causes harm to themselves or others because of one’s own actions, while classic Greek catastrophe is a harmful event caused by nature or other people’s actions. For Romeo and Juliet, the events in this story are tragic as they brought many pains upon themselves,…