Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is, according to Aristotle, the ideal tragedy. Various reasons influence Aristotle’s position on the matter. One of them is the peripeteia, which refers to a drastic turnaround. In Poetics, Aristotle defines the element of surprise that peripeteia denotes as “a change by which the action veers round to its opposite” (Cain et al. 98). He argues that in Oedipus Rex, a messenger visits Oedipus to confirm to his him that his mother is indeed the woman that biologically gave birth to him. However, this temporary happiness is quashed when it is later revealed that his mother is his wife, leading to the unfortunate end. The second aspect is recognition or anagnorisis, which Aristotle defines as “a change from ignorance to knowledge” (1452a). In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is famed for his wisdom, as evidenced by his resolution of the Sphinx riddle. However, he struggles to learn about himself, his family, and his fate.
The pride in his own wisdom does not go far because, despite having told Teiresias that he is blind both figuratively and literally (Sophocles 371), he eventually gouges out his own. Lastly, Aristotle emphasizes pity and fear as vital components in the character’s change from prosperity to adversity. The character does not necessarily have to be good, but their empty characterization is subject to the whims of their mistakes or weaknesses. Question 4 While minor differences exist between Socrates’s and Aristotle’s notions of mimesis, the former would allow Oedipus Rex to be performed in his ideal republic. The justification for this claim arises when one considers the parallelism in Socrates’s dialogues. In discussions with his pupils and other noteworthy names in various fields at the time, Socrates often begins his inquiries with subjects that are confident in their knowledge and wisdom, only for him to disprove them in due course.
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Oedipus’s experience resembles that of three characters that Socrates engages in The Republic – Cephalus, Thrasymachus, and Polemarchus. Cephalus does not participate in the debate for long but the latter two do. Socrates redefines the meaning of justice and eventually sways Polemarchus to his side. Thrasymachus opposes Socrates’s claims at first but suffers defeat at long last when he agrees that justice is more profitable than injustice (Cain et al. 62). The disapproval that eventually results is the tragic turn that Oedipus exemplifies. Oedipus starts out in a much similar manner as the discussants in Socrates’s dialogues. At first, he is in full control of his life, with static beliefs and unmoving self-concepts. He believes that he is fully aware of who he is, including his parents. In the end, the king’s life is shaken and these beliefs are permanently changed, albeit for the worse. Oedipus’s discovery that he is not as in control as he had formerly thought epitomizes the ending of Socrates’s dialogues.
Works Cited
- Aristotle. Poetics. OUP Oxford, 2013.
- Cain, William E., et al. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism: First Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
- Plato. The Republic. Yale UP, 2006.
- Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. U of Wisconsin P, 2011.
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Oedipus the King’ as a Tragedy: Argumentative Essay.
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