Outline

I. Introduction/Thesis II. The Tragic Hero’s Nobility III. Tragic Flaws A. Arrogance and Pride B. Arrogance and Paranoia C. Pride D. Pig-headedness IV. Downfall V. Conclusion

Dramatic Research Paper

“Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles

“Oedipus Rex” was a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles in the fifth century BC. It was the first of a trilogy of plays surrounding the life of Oedipus. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays approximately 100 years before Aristotle even defined a tragedy and the tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy is “… an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language enhanced by distinct and varying beauties; acted not narrated; by means of pity and fear effecting its purgation of these emotions” (Kennedy and Gioa 2010). According to Aristotle there were six elements to a tragedy: the plot, the character, the thought, the spectacle, the diction, and the music. He believed that “[t]he plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy; character holds the second place” (Aristotle 1999). The character (tragic hero) being the second most important element of the tragedy, he must be of nobility, he is not infallible and his downfall is due to an error in judgment, and is capable of making his own choices and, most important, accepting the consequences for those choices. “Oedipus Rex” is not only a classic example of Aristotle’s definition of a tragic plot; Oedipus (the protagonist) has all the characteristics of a tragic hero. Oedipus is the son of a king and eventually becomes a King; his character is also that of a nobleman by possessing high moral virtues of determination and tenaciousness; these self-same traits of his moral character later becomes arrogance, pride, and pig-headedness that lead to his downfall; because of these