In at least 150 words for each reading, explain which one of the definitions below applies best to three out of the following four readings, and say why you think so: Sophocles, Oedipus; Virgil, The Aeneid; Euripides, Medea; Homer, The Iliad. You may apply the same or a different definition to each reading.
Do not write out the statement(s); just refer to them by number.
1) “Tragedy is…an imitation of a noble and complete action…and achieves, through the representation of pitiable and fearful incidents, the catharsis of such pitiable and fearful incidents.” (Aristotle112)
a
2) “katharsis (Aristotle): In the Poetics, Aristotle used tragedy as an example of katharsis whereby feelings such as pity and fear are gotten rid of (purged) or cleansed (purified) by a vicarious experience of them in a controlled form (the tragedy) and setting (the theatre). The emotion of pity is produced when we see an excellence destroyed, when we see a person of noble stature, with great promise and strong character, fall from a state of happiness and fortune to a state of unhappiness and misfortune. The feeling of fear is aroused when we recognize that a similar downfall may take place in our own lives.” (Angeles 141)
3) “The essence of tragedy is to freely consent to be punished for an inevitable crime, so as to manifest one’s liberty by the very loss of this liberty.” (Szondi 17, citing Schelling)
5) “Tragedy is based on irreconcilable opposition. As soon as there is reconciliation, tragedy disappears.” (Szondi 36, citing Goethe)
6) “A fundamental catalyst of all tragic situations is separation…from a familiar state or loved person…induced by a more or less powerful constraint, by a force more or less despised…” (ibid 38)
7) “No matter what shape or form it takes, what lends to tragedy its uplifting, sublime quality, is that it makes clear to us that the world, and life can really offer no true pleasure, and does not deserve our becoming attached to it; the lesson of tragedy is therefore resignation.” (ibid 40, citing Schopenhauer)
Works Cited
Angeles, Peter A. Dictionary of Philosophy. New York : Barnes and Noble, 1981.
Aristotle. Poetics. In Classical and Medieval Literary Criticism. Eds. Preminger et al. New York: Ungar, 1974: 108-39.
Szondi, Peter. Essai sur le tragique. [Essay on Tragedy]. Paris : Circé, 2003. My translations.
Tragedy
Oedipus the King, Sophocles is best described by the seventh statement, which states that tragedy aims to make certain things in the world clearer. At the same time, it is not good to get attached to tragedy, and life can offer no true pleasure, so tragedy teaches resignation. This is what happens to King Oedipus, who found himself killing his father and marrying the mother even though he didn’t want to follow this path (Brook, 2019). He found that it was impossible to escape the tragedy, so the only way was to conform to destiny.
The first statement clearly describes the type of tragedy found in Homer’s The Iliad. As a hero, tragedy befalls Homer because his flawed character contributes to his downfall. Based on the first statement, tragedy imitates noble and complete action by representing fearful and pitiable incidents (Mayhew, 2020). Homer’s actions made him go through the fearful and pathetic. This shows that when a tragedy finally happens, it considers some of the actions and character of the individual. As a result, the individual suffers the consequences of their actions (Angeles, 1981). Besides, the second statement applies to the reading as Homer was a Greek hero who fell to a state of great misfortune and unhappiness.
As for the tragedy of Aeneid by Virgil, the most applicable statement is the sixth. In the story, the hero Dido finds themselves in a situation where he is abandoned after being forced by the gods to love Aeneas (GARIGLIO, 1986). This applies to the definition which mentions that tragedy is linked to the separation from a loved one brought about by a powerful force in action. In this case, the powerful forces refer to the gods that influence Dido’s life.
References
Angeles, P. (1981). Dictionary of Philosophy (New York: Barnes and Noble Books).
Brook, A. (2019). Sophocles: Oedipus the King by PJ Finglass. Phoenix, 73(3), 398-400.
GARIGLIO, M. C. D. A. (1986). EPIPHANY IN THE STORIES OF CLARICE LISPECTOR AND KATHERINE MANSFIELD (BRAZIL, NEW ZEALAND) (Doctoral dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
Mayhew, R. (2020). Aristotle on Homer on eels and fish in Iliad book 21. The Classical Quarterly, 70(2), 639-649. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009838820000592
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