Redefinition: Tragedy

Redefinition: Tragedy

  • Submitted By: weezybad7
  • Date Submitted: 10/28/2008 9:35 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 880
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 1

What is the definition of a tragedy? There are countless words with similar meanings, like a disaster, misfortune, catastrophe, or a calamity. But the word tragedy holds specific meaning, especially when talking about a tragic play such as Oediphus Rex. Being one the first tragic plays ever written, Oediphus Rex established the early standard for tragedies that would be written forever after. Oediphus Rex not only defines a tragedy because of the crushing downfall that Oediphus experiences from greatness, but for the terrible amount of grief and sorrow that the audience feels for Oediphus as they watch his life crumble before their eyes.
In some plays, the protagonist or hero in the story starts off in the same fashion as Oediphus: cast off, abandoned, and essentially forgotten. But in these plays and in Oediphus, the hero somehow, through their own trials and tribulations, finds a way to rise above everything that they face and eventually earn their title as hero. But unlike in these other plays, where at that point the story ends and everyone lives happily ever after, Oediphus falls from glory so swiftly and cruelly to the point that he causes someone to commit suicide and he blinds himself. There is such utter devastation that is done by the end of the play to everyone, that there is no better word to describe what has happened other than tragedy.
Another quality that defines Oediphus is that all of the devastation and disgrace that comes upon Oediphus in the play is created by himself. Oediphus did not have the terrible intentions of setting out to kill his father and marry his mother, but it just happened to him, unknowing until the very end, which possibly makes the story more tragic. When Oediphus was forced off the road by King Laios’ chariot, he was acting only in self defense when he fought back and killed the men who outnumbered him and attacked him unprovoked. It is true that he made the decision to kill all of the men, and it wasn’t totally...

Similar Essays