tragoed Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) as Greek Tragedy :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Oedipus The King as Greek Tragedy The genre of drama is wide and contains works of varied forms and subjects. The first drama, on which all later works are based, developed in Greece and plowt with religious and social issues. According to Aristotles The Poetics, a Greek Tragedy must deal with a serious purpose, arousing a sense of pity or fear in the listening. The emphasis must be on plot over suit development and the playwright must utilize suspense and unity of time, place and action. Aristotle writes that a tragical hero is a character who is renowned and prosperous, not needfully perfect, but not an evil person either. The tragic hero must meet with a reversal of fortune brought about by either lunacy or fate. Based on these criteria, Oedipus the King by Sophocles is considered the prototypical Greek Tragedy. Oedipus, the plays main character, is also considered the model of a Greek tragic hero. Oedipus the King deals with several serious purposes, the greate st of which being the agnosticism Sophocles perceived in his community. Through Iokaste who would not waste a second thought on oracles, Sophocles shows his audience the perils of disbelief in the gods, since each prophecy made by oracles in the play ended up coming true (l. 813). Sophocles uses his play to fulfil serious religious functions as well as to entertain theatre-goers. The fulfillment of the predictions made by the oracles led to the downfall of Oedipus, which created a catharsis in the audience, brought by arousing feelings of pity and fear for the fallen king. The Choragos gives the lesson, let none presume on his good fortune until he find life, at his death, a memory without fuss (l. 1473-5). This scene allows the audience to leave the theater feeling purged of their pity and fear. The plot is the most important component of Oedipus the King, as it is of every Greek Tragedy. Development of characters is secondary, and the audience rarely gets inside any of t he characters. Only characters crucial to the plot are introduced there is no extraneous action on stage. This development of plot is a challenge. A tragedian must present a story with which the audience is already familiar and still make it interesting