Can it be said that arrogance is a sign of a good leader? In the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, the title character embodies qualities that foster his leadership but also bring about his demise. Oedipus Rex is a story of a king that must banish a plague from his city. During his efforts to accomplish this goal, he discovers his true identity, loses his innocence, and becomes forever blinded by the truth. Through the great tragedy Oedipus Rex, we can easily see how Sophocles personified the tragic hero.
However, he does not realize that his dream is idealistic. Gatsby is relatable to the average man who possesses flaws. Gatsby as a Tragic Hero Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. The tragic hero possesses the following characteristics: 1) Flaw or error of judgment (hamartia) Note the role of justice and/or revenge in the judgments.
Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that a tragic hero must be an important or influential man who makes an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions. Those actions are seen when Oedipus forces Teiresias to reveal his destiny and his father's name. When Teiresias tries to warn him by saying I say that you and your most dearly loved are wrapped together in a hideous sin, blind to the horror of it (Sophocles 428). Oedipus still does not care and proceeds with his questioning as if he did not understand what Teiresias was talking about. The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in judgment and become an example to the audience of what happens when great men fall from their social or political positions.
Is Oedipus a Tragic Hero? In the play of “Oedipus the King”, Oedipus is in fact a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Aristotle defined a tragic hero according to these standards: A tragic hero has to be a king or a man of noble stature, a tragic hero must be an honorable man and his downfall occurs from an act injustice cause by ignorance, the downfall of a tragic hero is his own fault and nobody is to blame for, the hero’s downfall is not always earned but his punishment goes beyond from his or her crime, and after his or her downfall the hero learns a valuable lesson. They play is written like it was purposely wrote to meet the qualities of a tragic hero according to Aristotle by using Oedipus as an example. Oedipus meets all the qualities of a tragic hero by him being a man of noble and honorable stature, but his downfall is caused by his own fault but by an act of unfairness, his downfall is not earned by his acts, but at the end he learns a lesson.
Ahmad Rathore 3/25/11 Creon: An Aristotelian Tragic Hero Aristotle, an ancient Literary Critic believed that in order for a character to be a tragic hero, the character must fulfill certain qualities. In Sophocles’ Tragedy Antigone, Creon who was once the cities most favored King, fell to ruin after causing the death of his own son. Not only did he kill his own son, his wife committed suicide because of such unbearable news. According to Aristotle Creon executes such criterion to the highest extent. Aristotle believed that a tragic hero must have been a man of greatness and nobility, while still being flawed in essence to his personality.
I believe Creon displays all of the characteristics of a 'tragic hero'. He receives compassion through the audience, yet recognizes his weaknesses and his downfalls from his own self-pride, stubbornness, and controlling demands. This is quote told by Aristotle he explains who is a tragic hero “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…”(sparknoted/defintionoftrdigy.ca ) First of all Creon’s ego influenced his decisions once he came to power. He believed that a king owns the land and the people living there have to blindly follow the orders of the ruler. He passed a law that restrained anyone from burying his own nephew’s body.
Although he is yet unconscious of his pathetic position in the real sense but we, the readers, are well aware that he is the sickest person in the whole Thebes. We notice that Sophocles has applied all the qualities of Aristotelian tragic hero in Oedipus Rex in a very efficient manner. According to Aristotle, “An ideal tragic hero is someone who is not preeminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renown and prosperous”. At the beginning of the play we see the hero as “Great Oedipus”, “wisest in the ways of god”, “king of wisdom”, “Liberator”,etc.
The first example is that Oedipus’ anger helps show how ignorant Oedipus is and how he even makes false accusations towards others. Oedipus sent Creon to find the city’s seer, Tiresias, and Oedipus then asked Tiresias who killed the previous king. Tiresias would not give Oedipus a valid answer and Oedipus grew angry. “Indeed, since I am so angry, I’ll pass over none/ of what I understand. Know that I think/ you, too, had your hand in this deed and did it,/ even though you did not kill with your own hands./ But if you could see, I would think the deed yours alone” (l. 364-368).
In his own hands is the guilt of; the death of his wife, his children being cast from their home, and the eventual blinding of himself. It is ultimately Oedipus's hubris that is his fatal flaw. Despite overwhelming evidence, Oedipus decided to make decisions that any rational thinking person would not have. This raises the question; namely, did Oedipus really never consider the possibility that Lauis was his father and Jocasta his mother?The play relies on the Greeks' knowledge of the myth of Oedipus. This is true because otherwise Sophocles' use of dramatic irony would be fruitless.
with the help of three Greek tragedians by the names of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. Greek tragedies have inspired many great playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, which had gradually brought more attention to the tragedy genre. A tragic hero is the protagonist from any literary outputs including plays and novels, who displays a tragic flaw which eventually leads to their own spiralling downfall. Aristotle's defining attributes include being characterised by both good and evil, born of noble birth and the responsibility of the individual. The hubristic tragic flaw known as the hamartia is the cause of the downfall.