_Oedipus_Rex_Irony_Paper- Essays - Culture, Human Behavior

_Oedipus_Rex_Irony_Paper- Essays - Culture, Human Behavior Oedipus Paper The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle developed a theory in regards to literature in a text known as his Poetics , which distinguished 6 categories of components that create a literary work and a tragedy. An ancient Greek tragedian by the name of Sophocles wrote a series of works and his literary work on the story of Oedipus Rex from the Theban Plays supports concepts outlined within Aristotle's Poetics. Aristotle established that the most important portion of a literary work was the plot and the structure of a story. He also proclaimed that a tragedy would be something which imitates an impactful action. This action is to have a specific magnitude that is conveyed through the use of artistic language and situations at various points during the developing plot. The most significant aspect of a literary work that identifies it to be a tragedy would be that once it begins to come to a conclusion one should feel pity and/or fear for the one who suffered through the trails of the story. The magnitude of the irony in Oedipus Rex is extremely significant to the development of the plot. At each stage Sophocles manages to exhibit each portion of story structure that was outlined in Aristotle's Poetics . In ancient Greece the philosopher Aristotle defined what he believed to be literature. In his definition he proclaimed the significance of simple and complex plots, hero, and catharsis to the production of literature. He established that of all these components the plot and structure of a story are the most significant aspect of defining a literary work determining that "Plots are either simple or complex...I call Simple, when the change of fortune takes place without Reversal of the situation and without Recognition", whereas Aristotle states that, "A complex action is one in which the change is accomplished by such Reversal, or by Recognition, or by both" Aristotle determined that every piece of work must follow a specific construction(Poetics X). A complex plot would be a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end with a Reversal in between the beginning and middle, and a Recognition in between the middle and end. In examining the Poetics section XI one may assert that a reversal is when a situation "veers round to its opposite", as it pertains to Oedipus Rex a reversal presents itself through ironic occurrences whether or not they are revealed at said point in the plot. Meanwhile, a Recognition is by Aristotle's standards "a change from ignorance to knowledge" which invokes extreme emotion. One is able to find this true in Oedipus Rex, and additionally is able to see that once one undergoes a recognition the recognition is of something that which is of the most ironic nature. Not only does the work of Oedipus Rex support Aristotle's theory of literature by displaying the characteristics that he defined as having a complex plot, but it does so through linguistic and situational irony at each stage of the development of the pla y. The structure and impact of Sophocles's literary work, Oedipus Rex, is significantly impacted by the irony within it. Aristotle said that a real; complex literary work has two major points within its plot. The reversal and the recognition. Both within Oedipus Rex are controlled by irony, on page 35 the situation within Thebes veers to its opposite when Oedipus himself is accused of being he who he sought "hear this: upon your head is the ban your lips have uttered-from this day forth Never to speak to me or any here. You are the cursed polluter of this land" the plots takes an ironic twist when evidence presents itself that would support that Oedipus killed Laius. This situational irony is significant to the development of the story because now Oedipus is presented with a conflict. He now must investigate to see if these rumors are true, and tensions rise now given that Oedipus must now subconsciously be considering what his consequence may be if he was in fact the doer of the deed. This ironic reversal supports Aristotle's theory because it creates the main conflict of the play. The story of Oedipus Rex continues to support Aristotle's theory