by Jonathan Liu

Created on: April 18, 2010

Aristotle’s model of a Greek tragedy outlines several elements that consistently appear throughout tragic plays during the time period. The drama Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, fits all of the aspects of the Aristotelian model of tragedy.

The Aristotelian model of a tragedy depicts a main character who is morally just and good.  Oedipus, the main character, is essentially a good and just leader as his subjects revere him as the “king of the land, [their] greatest power” (16) and also “rate [him] first of men” (41). Oedipus earned his stellar reputation by saving the city of Thebes from the sphinx, establishing his honorable traits. Unfortunately for Oedipus, according to Aristotle’s model of a tragedy, the main character will inevitably suffer a loss of respect from society.

Oedipus the King fulfills the second element of Aristotle’s model as Oedipus, the main character, begins the play at a position of power and respect but eventually falls from his throne, into “the depths of terror, too dark to hear, to see” (1449). Oedipus is pitied by all, with the “joy of [his] life ground down to nothing” (1333) and the people all shudder in pity, wondering if there is “a man more agonized” (1331). The people no longer show Oedipus respect and honor but rather disgust and pity; Oedipus has fallen from his position of a glorious king to a man worse off than any other. In parallel with Aristotle’s model, the main characters certain demise is due to the existence of a fatal flaw.

Oedipus’ flaw, influencing his horrible fate, is his excessive pride or hubris. Oedipus’ pride causes him to claim that he is capable of uncovering the mystery of Laius’ death and “bring[ing] it all to light [him]self” (150), which implies that he believes the gods’ help unnecessary. Furthermore, Oedipus tries to defy a prophecy of the gods, stating that he will grow up to murder his father and wed his mother,  by running away “toward some place where [he] would never see the shame of all those oracles come true” (879-880). Again, Oedipus’ hubris in believing himself capable of doing what no man can do, avoid his fate, almost certainly brings upon himself a dreadful punishment from the gods. Similarly to most tragedies, Oedipus’ actions are influenced by outside forces, specifically the words of the oracles.

After hearing the horrible

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