Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero
English 102: Literature and Composition
Summer D 2020
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
Thesis Statement and Outline
Thesis Statement: Sophocles’ hero, Oedipus is a true exemplification of Aristotle’s tragic hero.
Oedipus meets all six of Aristotle’s points that define a hero.
I. Starts in a place of power and good fortune
1.A) “The tragic hero is a man of noble stature” (Perrine’s, pp. 1252)
a. King of Thebes; Grew up as Prince of Corinth
b. “Fall from a height” (Perrine’s, pp. 1252)
II. Hamartia
a. “to miss the mark or fall short of an objective” (Glassberg, 2017)
b. Hero is good, but not perfect, ultimate fall comes from hamartia (Perrine’s, pp.
1252).
1. Kills Laios without knowing who he is and ends up replacing him
2. avenge Laios’ death and protect from “violent hands” (Sophocles, line
142).
3. Tries to save country, but becomes “the pollution” (Sophocles, line
338).; “tyrannical behavior” (Glassberg, 2017)
III. Downfall
a. “His own fault, the result of his own free choice” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253).
1.Teiresias “you, with both your eyes, are blind” (Sophocles, line 399)
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
- Freud’s comments on blindness (Zachariasen)
B. Fate only acts as “cooperating agent” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253)
1. Several prophecies surrounding Oedipus that both he and Laios try to
avoid, their actions meant to avoid fate create result
IV. Misfortune
A. “The hero’s misfortune is not wholly deserved” (Perrine’s pp. 1253).
1. “left him to die on a lonely mountainside” (Sophocles, line 678)
B. “the punishment exceeds the crime” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253)
1.“well-intentioned, but vulnerable to missing the mark” (Ashton)
2. Does not deserve punishment (Ashton)
V. Self-discovery
A. “some increase in awareness, some gain in self… a change from ignorance to
knowledge” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253).
1. Oedipus begins his “search for knowledge” (Zachariasen) when he
learns that Polybus and Merope are not his parents, begins search for
identity
- Learns who his parents are by the end of the play
- learns that his attempt to avoid fate only led to fulfillment of the
prophecies
VI. Catharsis
A. Emotional “cleansing” (Ashton)
B. “Although it arouses solemn emotions… tragedy, when well performed, does
not leave its audience in a state of depression.” (Perrine’s p.1253).
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
1. Defective moral order (Glassberg, 2016)
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero
Every story has a main protagonist, a hero. The hero is someone the reader can identify
with and understand. The hero is someone the reader can root for. However, heroes do not
always have a delightful story and a happily ever after. Sometimes the hero’s story is rooted in
tragedy and despair. Aristotle was the first philosopher to outline the necessary features of a
tragic hero. According to this definition, Sophocles’ Oedipus is the perfect exemplification of a
tragic hero.
Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero first requires that the hero be “a man of noble
nature” (Perrine’s, pp. 1252). Oedipus’s story starts with him in a place of power and good
fortune. When the play opens, Oedipus is the King of Thebes and it is later revealed that he was
raised as the Prince of Corinth, soon to be King, following Polybus’ death. The hero needs to be
in this position of power from the beginning to emphasize the fall from grace that will occur
later. In Aristotelian tragedy feelings of pity and fear are created through the actions and
incidents of the characters’ lives. To make it possible for the reader or audience to feel these
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
emotions, the hero must “fall from a height” (Perrine’s, pp.1252) that will cause significant
personal strife.
The tragic hero is a good man, although he is not perfect. The hero’s ultimate fall from
power comes because of an “act of injustice,” or hamartia, through either ignorance or a belief in
the greater good (Perrine’s, pp. 1252). Hamartia is defined as missing the mark or falling short of
an objective (Glassberg, 2017). Oedipus “misses the mark” when he seeks to avenge the death of
the previous king, Laios, and protect himself from “violent hands” (Sophocles, line 142) that
might come after him next.
As a result, his tragic fall from grace occurs due to his ignorance of the situation. When
he learns of his predecessor’s murder, Oedipus calls for the murderer to be found and serve
justice for their crimes, however he is unaware of the fact that he is the person they are now
looking for. All of Oedipus’s actions after this event are a result of his ignorance and desire to
prove that he is not what Teiresias has accused him of being. In trying to prove that he is not “the
pollution of this country,” (Sophocles, line 338) Oedipus goes to extreme measures and displays
“tyrannical behavior” (Glassberg, 2017), only managing to succeed in becoming what he was
attempting to prevent.
In Oedipus’s attempts to prove Teiresias wrong and find Laios’ murderer, he creates his
own downfall. This is another requirement in Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. The hero’s
downfall must be “his own fault, the result of his own free choice” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253). Oedipus
is so set on maintaining his ignorance of who Laios is and his own part in the events that he
blinds himself to the truth, “you, with both your eyes, are blind” (Sophocles, line 399). Freud
once commented on a state of mind where one knows something to be true but blinds themselves
to the reality of that knowledge (Zachariasen). In this case, Oedipus does not want to face the
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
reality that Laios is his father and that his actions meant to thwart fate only succeeded in bringing
about the prophesized events, allowing fate to act as a “cooperating agent” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253),
not as the cause of Oedipus’s plight.
Due to the hero needing to commit an injustice in order to satisfy the condition of
hamartia, there must also be a punishment to follow the crime and assist in the hero’s fall from
power. However, Aristotle’s definition of tragedy requires the audience to feel pity for the hero
meaning that “the punishment exceeds the crime” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253). Oedipus is sentenced to
banishment and the loss of his sight as consequences of his crimes. Using blindness as a
punishment, however ironic, is severe in this case, and feeling pity for Oedipus’s plight shows a
belief that he does not deserve the punishment received (Ashton). Throughout the play, Oedipus
was “well-intentioned, but vulnerable to missing the mark” (Ashton).
Oedipus only ever meant well by looking for the truth of the previous king’s murder and
wanting to rid his country of “pollution,” but his lack of knowledge and previous misfortune led
Oedipus to his hamartia and as a result it can be stated that “the hero’s misfortune is not wholly
deserved” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253). Much of Oedipus’s fate can be linked to the fact that his father,
Laios, “left him to die on a lonely mountainside,” (Sophocles, line 678) when he was just born,
trying to avoid his fate. Oedipus only left Corinth to spare his parents of the horror of the
prophecy he had just been told by the God in Delphi. Oedipus did not set out to commit these
horrendous crimes, he was a hurt and angry young man trying to save the people who raised him
from himself and figure out who he is.
From the beginning, Oedipus’s journey has been one of self-discovery. Another of
Aristotle’s requirements for a tragic hero is “some increase in awareness, some gain in self…a
change from ignorance to knowledge” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253). Oedipus has always been searching
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
for the most basic truth of oneself. Where do I come from? He was told at an early age that the
people he thought to be his parents were not and when confronted they adamantly denied the
accusations. However, “the suspicion remained always aching in my head” (Sophocles, lines
741-742). What must it be like to always be questioning who you truly are?
Oedipus begins his “search for knowledge” (Zachariasen) when he can no longer silence
the doubts constantly swirling through his mind. By the end of the play, Oedipus has finally
learned who his parents are and where he comes from, but he wishes that he did not. He wishes
he was still blind to the truth. Sophocles made the fact that Oedipus’s great flaw was his
ignorance and inability to see the truth from the beginning of the play and this flaw is resolved
by the end. Oedipus learns and becomes aware of the fact that all his attempts to avoid the fate
laid out in the prophecy from the god and learn the truth led him to where he ends, banished and
blind once again.
Aristotle’s sixth, and final, requirement of his definition of a tragic hero state that,
“although it arouses solemn emotions… tragedy, when well performed, does not leave its
audience in a state of depression” (Perrine’s, pp. 1253). Aristotle required that there be some sort
of emotional reckoning, a balance between tragedy and justice. This is called catharsis. It is
unknown what Aristotle truly meant when he used the word catharsis, and it has many
definitions. However, it can be understood that Aristotle desired for there to be an emotional
“cleansing” (Ashton) by the end of a play.
For Oedipus, catharsis can be seen in the outcome of the play due to the balance between
the tragedy of Oedipus’s life, his later crimes and deeds, and the justice that he received for his
crimes. The audience is made to pity Oedipus throughout the story. This is due to the “unmerited
misfortunes” (Glassberg, 2016) that Oedipus is forced to go through throughout his life. This
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
misfortune creates a defective moral order, but Oedipus’s behavior and subsequent punishment
sets the order back to where it should be (Glassberg, 2016).
So, while the audience may pity Oedipus for the things he suffered from in his early life,
his actions while trying to disprove Teiresias did not endear him to readers and made for a
feeling of unfulfillment in the narrative until he receives his punishment. The fact that Oedipus is
made to receive justice, as he called for, creates a sense of finality to the story.
From the very first line of the play to the last word spoken, Sophocles creates a character
that not only exemplifies, but truly embodies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. Oedipus starts
the play as a king, a man of nobility, and he has a tragic flaw that leads to hamartia and his
inevitable epic downfall from grace and power. He is even made to go through life suffering
misfortune after misfortune due to his tragic flaw until they all lead to one great punishment that
is not entirely warranted.
Oedipus begins his story on a journey seeking knowledge and ends his story with that
knowledge in hand, however much he wishes he was able to go back. And finally, Oedipus’s
story takes the audience on a journey of their own, through various emotions of pity, fear, anger,
and vindication before ending on a note of justice and finality. Sophocles,’ Oedipus is a tragic
hero that can maintain a hero’s status in the eyes of the audience even after his grand defeat.
Oedipus: A True Aristotelian Hero 1
References
Ashton, G. & Tanner, S. (2016). From Puzzling Pleasures to Moral Practices: Aristotle and
Abhinava Gupta on the Aesthetics and Ethics of Tragedy. Philosophy East and West66(1), 13-39.
University of Hawai'i Press.
Glassberg, R. (2016). OEDIPUS THE TYRANT: A VIEW OF CATHARSIS IN EIGHT
SENTENCES. Philosophy and Literature, 40(2), 579–580. Retrieved from
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Glassberg, R. (2017). Uses of Hamartia, Flaw, and Irony in Oedipus Tyrannus and King Lear.
Philosophy and Literature, 41(1), 201–206. Retrieved from
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https://search-proquestcom.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/2157611926?pq-origsite=summon
Johnson, G., & Arp, T. R. (2018). Chapter 3 The Elements of Drama. In Perrine’s Literature:
Structure, Sound, and Sense (13th ed., pp. 1252–1254). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Sophocles. (2018). Oedipus. In Johnson, G., and Arp, T. R. (Eds.). Perrine’s Literature: Structure,
Sound, and Sense (13th ed., pp. 1258-1301). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Zachrisson, A. (2013). Oedipus the King: Quest for self-knowledge – denial of reality. ‐
Sophocles’ vision of man and psychoanalytic concept formation. The International Journal of
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