Eternal Despair

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews Sophocles's play, "Oedipus the King", and presents Aristotle's definition of tragedy in "De Poetica". The paper discusses the play in its entirety compared to Aristotle's definitions. The paper examines the two literary works in terms of literature, philosophy, and true tragedy.

From the Paper:

"In "De Poetica" Aristotle wrote his great definition of tragedy both as it was and as he believed it should be. "De Poetica" became a contemporary dissertation to many of the great Greek dramatists including Sophocles and his eminent work, "Oedipus the King." It is a play that has both lasted and been revisited for over two thousand years. However, it is also a play that encompasses and embodies Aristotle's definitions, creating a perfected genre and a true catharsis. In "De Poetica" Aristotle wrote sixteen chapters on the construction and parts of the tragedy. He defined six parts that all tragedies must contain: character, plot, diction, thought, melody, and spectacle. "Oedipus the King" contains all of these parts and thus creates in final the true purpose of tragedy: instilled catharsis or cleansing of the audience."

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