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Six Elements Of Tragedy In Sophocles's Oedipus Rex

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In poetics Aristotle has praised Sophocles on many occasions for writing Oedipus Rex. He called it a great tragedy as it possessed the perfect blend of necessary elements for a dramatic performance of tragedy. Aristotle in Poetics defines tragedy as well as the six elements a great tragedy should own. He defines tragedy as an
“Artistic imitation of an action that is serious, complete in itself, and of adequate magnitude”. The function of a tragedy should be to arouse emotions of pity and fear in the audience to bring out emotional relief (Catharsis). The first and important element in a tragedy is the Plot. It should be an organization of events so it makes the whole tragedy. The plot must have a beginning, middle and an end. Oedipus Rex has the usual “Aristotelian triangle” involving the Exposition (rising action), climax and Denouncement (the falling action). The rising action being the Thebes is struck by a mysterious plague and Oedipus sends Creon to find out about the plague, the climax being that Oedipus finds out the truth about how he killed his father and married his own mother and the falling action that he stabs his eyes after his wife/mother hang herself on knowing the truth. A good plot for tragedy according to Aristotle should move from happiness to unhappiness. Like Oedipus falls from his status as a King because of the discovery and is thrown into despair. The second one is Character. The main

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