Discuss the principles of tragedy is defined in Aristotle's Poetics.

Illustrate these principles in Sophocles'

play Oedipus the King in order to establish the link between the theory and practice of Greek tradegy.

Tragedy - No doubt, it is the opposite of comedy, but as a genre of drama, it is so very great in complexity
than its humorous counterpart. Aristotle in Poetics lays down the principles of tragedy and Sophocles'
play Oedipus the King is credited to be as its most on the mark example, or in other words an Aristotle
perfect tragedy. [I intend to show that] a tragedy as defined by Aristotle has a protagonist having a high
stature and a high moral character , who possesses a tragic flaw or commits a small error in judgement
[Hamartia], due to which the wheel of fortune turns [peripetia] and his downfall takes place; he
experiences a sudden realization of the unexplained past events [anagnorisis] at some point and the
spectators experience purging of emotions [catharsis] as the play concludes. Sophocles' play Oedipus the
king exemplifies these principles as the principal character is an emperor who is a paragon of integrity,
but has a arrogant demeanor, which causes his nemesis in the form of blinding himself and he
experiences a realization when the testimonies of the Shepard and the Messenger from Corinth are put
together. They join like jigsaw pieces and the play ends on a cathartic note. Finally, I'll link the theory and
practice of Greek tragedy by analyzing the psychological complexity of the genre of tragedy which allows
varied and complicated emotional responses.

An Aristotelian protagonist is noble with none except one flaw, causing his decline and he undergoes a
revalation leading to a cathartic ending.

Aristotle states in Poetics describes the protagonist as a 'man who is not conspicuous for virtue and
justice, and whose fall into misery is not due to vice and depravity, but rather to some error'. A noble
protagonist, both by stature and character ensures that his downfall, is pitiful; otherwise, an unworthy
character or sinful character's reversal of fortune won't be pity inducing in nature.

Also, the triggering of the downfall, should not be some other factor but essentially that very flaw in his
nature or an error in judgement and because this gives rise to the feeling of empathy and not mere
sympathy with the character. It's due to the reason that the tragic flaw is portrayed as something which
can be possessed or committed by anyone. So, it induces the feeling of terror in the spectators.

Aristotle regards a point of 'discovery' as the climax of a tragedy. He defines discovery as ' a change from
ignorance to knowledge '. It is where this point the past events start making sense. Anagnorisis can be
viewed as the binding force, which sews together the tragic flaw and the downfall and opens the
window for a cathartic conclusion.
Oedipus is a compassionate but arrogant king, who blinds and exiles himself at the end as he,
'detectivelikely' deduces that he has fulfilled the prophecy he was trying to evade from the beginning.

The countrymen approached Oedipus in the beginning of the play because the city of Thebes was
suffering from an epidemic. Oedipus addressed them as 'my children' and said, "Your pain strikes each of
you alone, each in the confines of himself, no other. But my spirit graves for the city, for myself and all of
you. ".This shows that Oedipus is a compassionate emperor, who loves his kingdom and feels for their
suffering.

But Oedipus has a flaw in his conduct viz. arrogance that leads to his downfall. He called Tiresias a 'pious
fraud' and a 'seer blind in his craft' when he accused him of being the 'corruption' of the land. Also,
when he came to know at the Delphic oracle that he is destined to marry his mother and kill his father,
he ran away from Corinth, thinking that he could run away from his fate too. Moreover, when he was en
route from Corinth, he met Lauis and killed him over the petty quarrel that who should give way. This
was the point from where his downfall began.

Oedipus is highly arrogant which is exemplified by his duologue with Tiresias, his actions after knowing
his fate through the oracle and his encounter with Lauis.

Oedipus realizes his mistake when the testimonies of the Messenger and the Shepard are put together.
Anagnorisis is such an important part of tragedy because, "otherwise, the result may be brute suffering,
but that does not constitute tragedy in the literary sense. Part of the pain a tragic hero must face is his
own realization of personal culpability and error." as per Dr. Wheeler in his work "Some thoughts about
tragedy".

The play ends with Oedipus' mother/wife committing suicide and he blinding himself and begging for
exile. This leads to the feeling of pity and terror in the spectators, pity because they witnessed a ruler
becoming ruins; and terror because his all that happened due to his flaw, which seems very trivial
compared to the suffering that he received. Richard Dargie, in his work, Ancient Greece Crime and
Punishment asserts, "For the citizens of an ancient Greek city, exile was a terrible punishment. " Also,
incestry was a heinous act during in Greek society. These two were the major reasons that inspired
terror in the minds of spectators, which leads to a catharsis.

Complying with rules laid down in Poetics, the tragedy so structured leaves on the spectators' minds a
complex psychological impact, procuring a cathartic effect.

The play Oedipus the King, comforming to the Aritotlian principles, presents a paradoxical situation
where the spectators experience a dilemma and can't rationalize the suffering of Oedipus to either fate
or free will. Oedipus makes the choice to leave his parents (who he believed were his parents) and move
away from Corinth. He then chooses, though ruled by anger, to kill an old man blocking his path, who
later is discovered to be his real father, King Laius. Sure, it was fate that made Oedipus kill his father, but
free will that made him kill Laius that day, in that way. The onlookers feel pity for his agony which is
colossal, juxtaposed to his tragic flaw, and terror because his hamartia was so petty and could be
possessed by anyone.

A tragedy is believed to be complete and proper when it achieves catharsis."By arousing pity and terror,
a tragedy aims at the catharsis of these and similar other emotions and cures these feelings which
always exist in our hearts. A tragedy, hence, affords emotional relief and the spectators rise at its end
with a feeling of pleasure." remarks S.N. Gilani, in his work, Catharsis in Oedipus Rex.

In conclusion, the Sophocles' following Aristotelian philosophies is able to achieve purgation of emotions
which Aristotle deemed as the aesthetic function of tragedy. Due to the great churning of human
emotions, many great scholars consider tragedy as the highest form of art.