Oedipus rex
Oedipus rexThe great poet and philosopher Aristotle was a highly intellectual man who loved to reason. One of his ideas was his structured analysis of the quintessential �tragic hero� of Greek drama. In his work Poetics he defines a tragic hero as �...The man who on the one hand is not pre-eminent in virtue and justice, and yet on the other hand does not fall into misfortune through vice or depravity, but falls because of some mistake; one among the number of the highly renowned and prosperous.�
Aristotle�s definition of a tragic hero is clearly shown by the main character in the Greek tragedy Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Oedipus, the protagonist in this Greek tragedy, is exemplary of Aristotle�s idea of a �tragic hero.�
In Oedipus the King, Oedipus, the main character is a great man who saves the city of Thebes from the plague of the Sphinx by answering an extremely difficult riddle. Everything is going for him. He becomes the king and marries the widowed Queen of the land.
However, as the plot unfolds, Oedipus begins to show the signs of being a �tragic hero� by Aristotle�s definition. Aristotle says that a tragic hero is a person, usually the main character, who starts out as a great and noble individual. Oedipus is not an evil man but a good, upright, man who suffers a downfall. Aristotle also says that this person begins to become fallible and eventually is doomed by their own �tragic flaw.� We see this with Oedipus when he displays hubris....
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