Oedipus Rex a tragic hero

1. Oedipus Rex
A Tragic Hero
Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Group 2

2. Group Members
Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob (Roll no. 3)
MehakRasool(Roll no. 43)
Rabia Ashiq (Roll no. 28)
Samia Shabbir (Roll no. 24)
Sara George (Roll no. 38)

3. Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
Roll no. 3

4. The Definition of a Tragic Hero
According to Aristotle thetragic hero mustbe a person of noble
birth and prosperity whose misfortuneresults, not from
depravity or vice but from some hamartia i.e. a tragic flaw or an
error of judgmentfrom the hero. Aristotle gives theexampleof
Oedipus as a great and successful tragic hero.
Aristotle`s definitionof a tragic hero consists of the following
five points:

5. Tragic
Hero
Noble
Structure Fate
proves to
be
downfall
Exceeds
the
crimeNot a
Pure
loss
Misfortu
ne is not
deserved
Good
Person

6. Thetragic herois a manofnoblestructure.
Thetragic herois a goodpersonand his downfallresults fromhis
committingofan actofinjusticethrough ignorance.
His fatemaycontributetohis downfall,but itis ultimatelythe
hero's own choices andactionsthatleadtohis fall.
The hero's misfortuneis not entirelydeserved.
Thepunishmentwhich isgiven tothe tragichero exceedsthe
crime.
Thetragic fallis not pureloss. He learns somethingthathe was
ignorant topreviously.

7. Throughout theplay Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the character
Oedipus proves to be a perfect matchfor "Aristotle's" tragic hero.
In fact, as theplay moves on it almost seems as thoughAristotle
created his definitionof a tragic hero by definingOedipus. By
definitionof Aristotle, Oedipus is a tragic hero in theplay
because he is a man of noble structure, he isgood, but falls
because of an act of injustice,his downfall is his own fault,his
misfortuneis not fully deserved, and because hegains some self-
knowledgethrough theresolution.

9. Cause of Oedipus Misfortune
There were differentcauses which brought
misfortunes to Oedipus. Somewere his own Flawsbut
some were brought by fate. Some of the causes areas
follows:-
• Moral Wisdom
• Character and Fate
• Oedipus’Goodness
• Pity andFear

10. Mehak Rasool
Roll no. 43

11. Moral Wisdom
Traditionally,Oedipus Rex has beenregardedas aplay
whichenshrines muchmoral wisdom,althoughthe
wisdomitself has been identified variously.
Oneviewis thattheplayteachesmanto restrainhimself
withintherangeof his finite qualitiesandnottocompete
withthegods.
Itis very difficult tosay thatthe misfortune of Oedipus
results from some flaw in his characteror some error of
judgmentcommittedby him.

12. Oedipus is, no doubt, rash, impatient,imitable,and passionate.
Further he is very proud of his intelligenceand believes thathe
can find answer to every problem.
Yet if we takehis tragedy to be thebasic action of incest and
parricide thentheseflaws of Oedipus are quite irrelevant. It is
Oedipus who proclaims a severe punishment forthemurderer
of Laius and says thathe will award punishmenteven to himself
if he is foundguilty.
Althoughthepredictions cannot be takenas responsible for the
action mentionedin them, yet they add to the sufferingand
humiliationof Oedipus.

13. Rabia Ashiq
Roll no. 28

14. Character and Fate
Greek tragedy is generally believed to be tragedy of fate.
At the most we can say thatboth characterand fate playa
part in the tragedy of Oedipus.Oedipus iscertainly the
victim of adverse chances andinthis sense fate playspart
in histragedy.
Oedipusis certainlythe victim of adverse chances, like
his encounter withpassenger whom he killednot
knowing that he was his father.But his own character
cannotbe put asidein the context.

15. It is because of his character as a great discoverer of truthand a
mandetermined to find out what he has decided to discover that
Oedipus meetswithtragic end.
In thescene where he is cross-examining theshepherds, Jocasta
begs himnot to carry investigationfurther buthe pays no heed to
her words. The Theban shepherd also begs thathe may not be
asked to disclose whathe knows, butOedipus forces him to tell
the whole truth.It is thisdetermination of Oedipus to find outthe
wholetruth at any cost which makes himtragic. As one critic says ,
whathappens to Oedipus is thenaturalresult of his virtues and
vices , which also combines with thoseof other people.

16. Samia Shabbir
Roll no. 24

17. Oedipus’ Goodness
Oedipus is a great leader. Heled thecountry withsuccess and
prosperity. Sophocles shows thatOedipus is strongat theend of
the play whenOedipus chooses not to killhimself.He instead
blinds himselfso hedoesn’t have to look upon the world.
Oedipus decides to live on and fightthroughtheeternalpain
thatlives inside of him.Society shouldn’t pity thedead but
insteadpity the living, especially thosewho live withoutlove
and friendship. It can be said thatthe tragedy of Oedipus is the
result more of his good qualitiesthanhis bad ones.

18. To Oedipus thediscovery of truthis more important than his
own good and safety. He decides to carry on investigation
knowingthatit willnotproduce any result whichwill be safe for
him.He is so honestwith himselfthathe inflicts thepunishment
of self-blindingwhenhe learns thathe has committedhorrible
crimes againsthis parents. Heeven insists on Creon to banish
himfrom the city as demanded by the Oracle. It’s worth nothing
that,even whenhe learns thehorrific truthof his life, Oedipus
himselftakes on thefullresponsibility for his own punishment.

19. Sara George
Roll no. 38

20. Pity and Fear
AccordingtoAristotle,tragedyarouses thefeeling of pity
andfear. Pity chiefly for thehero`s tragicfate andfear at
thesight ofcertain horriblesituationsthehero faces. There
is, ofcourse,a great sense of pityandfear for Oedipus who
has invainbeen searching for his parents.All thiswhile he
has tried to avoiddoingwrongtothem byleavingCorinth
andwhoyet finds thathe hasunconsciouslybecome guilty
of thegravestoffences againstbothhis parents.

21. Along withpity there is also the feelingof great terror. Suffering
of Jocasta and Oedipus seems to us largely undeserving. This
mystery of undeserved sufferingsdoes inspire a sense of terror
in us. In thisplay, we feelpity notonly for theplight of Oedipus,
but also for Jocasta as wellas for Oedipus`s daughters.However,
theplay does not produce a finalimpression of gloom. On the
other hand, after beinghitby fateand unavoidable
circumstances, we feela great respect for Oedipus when he
displays his indomitablecourage. Thus, theeffect of Oedipus
Rex is more complex thancausing thefeelingof mere pity and
fear.

22. Thank You
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