The word tragedy has unfortunately lost its significance. In contemporary American culture, the word is time and again misused to characterize every unfortunate event that occurs. In a culture dominated by news headlines, the word was been misused so often that we have distorted its own definition. The word tragedy is meant to evoke powerful emotions that we have become different to. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle meticulously sums up the classical definition of the word tragedy as “the imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude, in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament.” A key component of a tragedy is a tragic hero. The tragic hero usually tends to be someone of great social importance. This hero also possesses qualities and traits that are universally admired by the audience, although it is often the same qualities that causes the tragic hero’s eventual downfall. It is important to understand that the hero is always given personal choice and agency, although his decisions will result in a chain of inevitable and irreversible catastrophic events. The famous English playwright William Shakespeare of the 16th Century CE wrote tragedies that revolved around significant men of Roman history that each succumb to their tragic flaw. The distinguished Greek tragedian Sophocles of 5th Century BCE wrote tragedies that were concerned with the individual woes of its protagonists following divine intervention by the gods, such as in the his renowned tragedies Oedipus Rex and Antigone. Such tragedies are able to make deeply personal impressions on its audience as a direct result of using relatable, mythological themes that purposely examine the meaning of life.
Ancient Greek poets deliberately incorporated controversial moral and philosophical themes into their tragedies to pose abstract questions about the potential dilemma between religious convictions and civil authority, as most stories used were taken from the great cycles of mythology. In Antigone, Sophocles sparks a discussion about the potential conflict between divine law and civil law in Greek society. At the beginning of the play, Antigone vows to bury her brother’s corpse in defiance to King Creon’s edict that her brother is to be disgraced by leaving his corpse unburied. Antigone refuses to obey the edict and buries her brother’s corpse anyway. As a result, King Creon punishes Antigone by burying her alive in a cave. King Creon is also warned by a blind prophet, Tiresias, that the gods will punish him for punishing Antigone so harshly. Antigone was consciously aware of the consequences of her actions. She deliberately risked her own life by disobeying King Creon, but she was only concerned with obeying the divinely-ordained duties to her relatives. King Creon arrogantly considered Antigone’s punishment as a matter of political expediency rather than of safeguarding the rule of law. Not only does King Creon suffer after he acknowledges his moral culpability, but his decisions also inflict unwarranted misery upon other characters in the tragedy. King Creon’s son, Haemon, and his wife, Eurydice, commit suicide. Sophocles’ Antigone closes with the chorus saying that the gods punish the proud, although such a punishment only brings wisdom in the course of time.
Attic tragedians purposely included well-known myths into their tragedies to pose serious questions about our obstinate disposition. The use of plots and characters already familiar to the audience gave poets endless opportunities for the subtle use of irony and allusions. Sophocles thoughts that tragedy was a necessary antidote to foolishness, since it taught people to know themselves better. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles sparks another discussion about the conflict between fate and free will. King Laius of Thebes learned from an oracles that he was to be killed by his own son, Oedipus, in the future, so he then ordered his wife, Queen Jocasta, to kill their infant child. However, neither she nor her servant could kill Oedipus, so he was abandoned. Oedipus was found on a mountaintop and shortly raised by a shepherd, before being raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Oedipus was so surprised when he heard rumours throughout the kingdom that he was not the biological son of King Polybus that he consulted the blind prophet, Tiresias, who foretold that he would marry his biological mother and kill his biological father. Desperate to avoid this foretold fate, Oedipus leaves Corinth believing that Polybus and Merope are his biological parents. On the road to Thebes, he meets King Laius. Unaware of each other’s true identity, they quarrelled and Oedipus’ pride leads him to murder Laius. Oedipus later goes onto solving the riddle of the Sphinx and frees the kingdom of Thebes from the Sphinx’s curse. As a result, he is rewarded with Queen Jocasta’s hand-in-marriage and the kingdom of Thebes. The prophecy was inevitably fulfilled, although none of the tragedy’s main characters were aware of it. As the play opens, King Oedipus is being called upon by a priest and the Chorus of Theban to aid them with a plague that has been sent by Apollo to ravage the city. Oedipus already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to consult an oracle and Creon returns reporting that the plague will only end when the murder of Laius is caught and brought to justice. Ironically, Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for the plague he has caused. Oedipus also summons the blind prophet Tiresias to answer his questions, but Tiresias refuses to speak, lamenting his ability to see the truth when it only brings nothing but pain. Tiresias advises Oedipus to abandon his search of the murderer. Oedipus provokes Tiresias into telling him that he is in fact the murderer of Laius, which Oedipus dismissed. When Oedipus realizes that the prophecy has been fulfilled, he curses himself and his tragic fate because he subconsciously knows that it's too late for him to change the imminent disaster. As a servant enters and explains the truth to Queen Jocasta, she hangs herself in the palace’s bedroom. Oedipus deliriously searches for a sword throughout the palace so that he might commit suicide. Once he comes upon Jocasta’s lifeless body, Oedipus takes two long gold pins from her dress and plunges them into his own eyes. Now that Oedipus is a blind man, he begs to be exiled from the kingdom as soon as possible. Not only does Oedipus suffer, but he knowingly inflicts misery upon his family. He asks his brother, Creon, to look after his two, orphaned daughters, Antigone and Ismene, lamenting that they should not have been born into such a cursed family. Oedipus was unable to escape the messages of the oracles. Although the inevitability of oracle predictions is a theme that generally occurs in Greek tragedies, Oedipus foolishly distorts reality and clutches onto implausible ideas, instead of confronting the apparent truths about his origin and crimes.
The English playwright William Shakespeare purposely included a well-known historical event into his tragedies to sensibly pose several abstract questions about our subconscious human nature. At the beginning of the play Julius Caesar, two tribunes discover the people of Rome celebrating Julius Caesar’s triumphant return from defeating his military rival. The tribunes attempt to end the festivities and break up the crowd. Caesar holds a victory parade and a stranger warns him to “Beware the ides of March,” which he disregards. Meanwhile, Cassius attempts to convince fellow Senator Brutus to join his conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar. Although Brutus is hesitant to kill Caesar, he does agree with the other conspirators that Caesar is abusing his power. On the day before the ides of March, Cassius and the other conspirators forged letters of support from Brutus’ constituents and used them to successfully persuade Brutus into joining the conspiracy later that night. On the ides of March, Julius Caesar is urged not to go to the Senate by his wife, Calpurnia, who has a premonition that he will be murdered. However, Caesar is convinced by a conspirator to go to the Senate anyway. As petitioners surround Caesar in the Senate, he is stabbed numerous times by Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus makes his intentions clear publicly that he did not commit murder for his own political gain. Julius Caesar’s ghost appears to Brutus the same night as their army prepares to fight in the civil war, warning Brutus of their inevitable defeat. Eventually, Brutus and the other conspirators lose and he commits suicide by running on his own sword, since this cause of death is the only honorable action left to him.
This particular tragedy may have a higher purpose, either indirectly or not, as this story serves as an useful example of the ramifications of blind ambition and recklessness. Brutus is given the option to choose between the Republic and his personal relationship with Julius Caesar. Brutus hastily and recklessly acts on his emotions and is deliberately manipulated by Cassius into joining the conspiracy. Ultimately, Brutus makes the political miscalculation of killing Julius Caesar, since his actions bring down the republic he was willfully attempting to safeguard from tyranny. All of the main characters of Julius Caesar will suffer for their wrongdoings, even though the civil war wrecks havoc on all Romans.
Many people still do not see the point to tragedy, since contemporary American culture tends to not embrace tragedy as much as comedy. Nonetheless, tragedies continue to offer countless opportunities for the audience to reflect on our human potential and imperfections. The theme of self-awareness consistently shows up in all of the tragedies written by both Sophocles and William Shakespeare. In the particular tragedies discussed above, each tragic hero searches relentlessly for truth and meaning. The renowned poet Sophocles strongly believed that facing tragedy was a healthy and necessary antidote to combat foolishness. The negative emotions evoked throughout a tragedy inspire its viewers to think more seriously about their lives and the consequences of their actions. As a direct result, these people were taught to know themselves better. As an emotional exercise, watching a tragedy helps its viewers learn compassion and sympathy. Essentially, each and every tragedy performed strongly encourages its viewers to change their bad habits in order to live meaningful lives.