May I just start by saying that this is a very strange but good play, and I did really like it. I find it kind of ironic that in a time that when things like murder, incest, and even just sex were taboo subjects not to be talked about, plays and stories come out of this era that are actually popular. It just goes to show that as much as a person denies enjoying watching other people suffer, we all have that trait within us, albeit some more than others.
Now to the specifics of tragedy within the play itself. If I hadn't already vaguely known what happens in Oedipus, a moment in the beginning of the play would have clued me in that something very tragic was going to happen. Oedipus is described as "world famous" and the "first of men", which sets him up as an amazing person, famous for being kind and a good man and king. As is common in such plays, it can also be reasonably assumed that Oedipus has superhuman abilities, such as strength, although there is no concrete evidence of this in the play itself. Because Sophocles describes Oedipus as the perfect person, he makes it clear that something negative will eventually happen to Oedipus, something has to end his perfection, for no human is perfect. Another example of the building-up of Oedipus' perfection to create a more dramatic tragedy is when Oedipus is talking of how he defeated the sphinx, saying, "No. I came, know-nothing Oedipus. I stopped the Sphinx." This line serves to portray to the reader Oedipus' knowledge that he is a great man, one with a greater distance to fall from during tragedy.
As for the actual tragedy that occurs in the play, there are many. I consider multiple things to be tragic in Oedipus: the oracle's premonition; baby Oedipus' banishment to the mountains with his ankles tied together by his own parents; Laius' death by the hand of his own son, and the other side of that coin, Oedipus' rage murder of several men, one of which happened to be his father; Oedipus and Jocasta's incest; Oedipus' discovery of all of these previous tragedies; Jocasta's suicide; and finally, Oedipus' rash decision to gouge his own eyes out. Basically, the whole play is tragedy, every main event is tragic.
Sure, yeah, the whole play is a tragedy, but how is this significant? Sophocles' portrayal of tragedy is an incredible work of literary art, but it also simply adds to the bank of tragedy definitions, which is not to say that that isn't important. His work of art helps to create something bigger than the play; he helped to create what tragedy is and how it is seen today. I can conclude now, after reading all that I have read about tragedy and the various viewpoints on the subject, that tragedy in literature most likely means an event or series of events in which something drastic and immensely negative happens in the life of the main character, an event or series of events that dramatically changes the character's life, a change which they may not be aware of at the time.
Now to the specifics of tragedy within the play itself. If I hadn't already vaguely known what happens in Oedipus, a moment in the beginning of the play would have clued me in that something very tragic was going to happen. Oedipus is described as "world famous" and the "first of men", which sets him up as an amazing person, famous for being kind and a good man and king. As is common in such plays, it can also be reasonably assumed that Oedipus has superhuman abilities, such as strength, although there is no concrete evidence of this in the play itself. Because Sophocles describes Oedipus as the perfect person, he makes it clear that something negative will eventually happen to Oedipus, something has to end his perfection, for no human is perfect. Another example of the building-up of Oedipus' perfection to create a more dramatic tragedy is when Oedipus is talking of how he defeated the sphinx, saying, "No. I came, know-nothing Oedipus. I stopped the Sphinx." This line serves to portray to the reader Oedipus' knowledge that he is a great man, one with a greater distance to fall from during tragedy.
As for the actual tragedy that occurs in the play, there are many. I consider multiple things to be tragic in Oedipus: the oracle's premonition; baby Oedipus' banishment to the mountains with his ankles tied together by his own parents; Laius' death by the hand of his own son, and the other side of that coin, Oedipus' rage murder of several men, one of which happened to be his father; Oedipus and Jocasta's incest; Oedipus' discovery of all of these previous tragedies; Jocasta's suicide; and finally, Oedipus' rash decision to gouge his own eyes out. Basically, the whole play is tragedy, every main event is tragic.
Sure, yeah, the whole play is a tragedy, but how is this significant? Sophocles' portrayal of tragedy is an incredible work of literary art, but it also simply adds to the bank of tragedy definitions, which is not to say that that isn't important. His work of art helps to create something bigger than the play; he helped to create what tragedy is and how it is seen today. I can conclude now, after reading all that I have read about tragedy and the various viewpoints on the subject, that tragedy in literature most likely means an event or series of events in which something drastic and immensely negative happens in the life of the main character, an event or series of events that dramatically changes the character's life, a change which they may not be aware of at the time.