Is Oedipus Rex a Story of Tragedy or Fate Essay - 1272 Words

Oedipus Rex a play by Sophocles can be looked at in two ways as or as not a tragedy of fate. Author Lionel Trilling states that much ingenuity has been used to show that it is not a tragedy of fate and those critics use Poetics by Aristotle to back their claim, â€Å"the protagonist of a tragedy should be a man worthy of respect and admiration but have some discernible weakness or fault of character to which his tragic disaster may be attributed. In some important sense, that is, he is to be thought responsible for what befalls him† (Trilling 5). Although this description would seem to be accurate of Oedipus who Trilling sees as being admirable, wise, and courageous with the flaw of his pride, Trilling ultimately says that the tragic†¦show more content†¦Ultimately, Oedipus finds out about the heinous deed he has done, despite he has only killed a man he feels responsible for fulfilling the prophecy. Oedipus only acts on his emotions, had any other man been there i t would not have been a tragedy since another man would only be killing a king. Even though pride had led him to his decision in killing a man, it was by fate that Oedipus should meet his father on that crossroad. A new topic arises as to if Oedipus is really responsible for what he has done because the tragedy is actually one of fate. The question of is intent needed for culpability has been explored since 300 BCE by philosophers. The story of Oedipus embodies this question at the heart of its plot and Trilling argues in his Preface to the Experience of Literature that Oedipus is not responsible for fulfilling the prophecies. Oedipus meets a group of pilgrims on the road, and he slaughters them, when they do not move out of his way because of his pride. Oedipus at that point does not know that one of the pilgrims happens to be his father. Trilling uses Ethics by Aristotle to exculpate Oedipus from fulfilling the prophecy of killing his father, â€Å"for an act to have ethical significance, for good or bad, the person who commits it must have done so with consciousness and will. It is in these terms that Oedipus argues for his blamelessness in Oedipus at Colonus† (Trilling 4). Oedipus did not intendShow MoreRelatedOedipus Rex900 Words   |  4 PagesThe philosopher Aristotle wrote his work Poetics as a deconstruction of aesthetics approximately 50 years after the death of Sophocles, the author of Oedipus Rex. Aristotle was a great admirer of the works of Sophocles and is said to have considered Oedipus Rex to be the perfect tragedy and the basis for his thoughts in Poetics. 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