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Oedipus The King as Greek Tragedy
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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
dealt with religious and social issues. According to AristotleOs The Poetics, a
Greek Tragedy must deal with a serious purpose, arousing a sense of pity or
fear in the audience. The emphasis must be on plot over character
development and the playwright must utilize suspense and unity of time, place
and action. Aristotle writes that a tragic hero is a character who is renowned
and prosperous, not necessarily perfect, but not an evil person either. The
tragic hero must meet with a reversal of fortune brought about by either folly
or fate. Based on these criteria, Oedipus the King by Sophocles is considered
the prototypical Greek Tragedy. Oedipus, the playOs main character, is also
considered the model of a Greek tragic hero. Oedipus the King deals with
several serious purposes, the greatest of which being the agnosticism
Sophocles perceived in his community. Through Iokaste who OEwould not
waste a second thoughtEO 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 perform
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, OElet none presume
on his good fortune until he find life, at his death, a memory without painO (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 Ogets insideO any of the 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
