Aristotles Tragedy essays

Aristotles Tragedy essays Aristotle defines Greek tragedy by the presence of a great mistake performed by the protagonist due to particular flaws, which leads to an inevitable sequence of events. One of the flaws is that of Hubris, the capital sin of pride, and thus the antithesis of two ethics that the Greeks valued highly. Aidos (humble reverence for the law) and Sophrosyne (self-restraint, a sense of proper limits). In Greek Literature, hubris often afflicted rulers and conquerors who, though endowed with great leadership abilities, abused their power and authority and challenged the divine balance of nature to gratify their own vanity and ambition. Aristotles Poetics both described and prescribed the structure of drama as it had evolved by the fourth century BC . One of the passages consists of this; The best plot...will consist in a change of fortune... from prosperity to misfortune, occasioned not by depravity but by some great mistake... Tragedy having this construction is the finest kind of trag edy from an artistic point of view. Aeschylus Agamemnon accompanies the description of tragedy very well, due to Agamemnons actions (which include mainly the great mistake), lack of Aidos and lack of knowledge. He fell from extreme prosperity from returning home after the war, to extreme misfortune, being killed by Clytaemnestra. The play Agamemnon fits this poetic very well and lies within the relationship of the protagonist to the inevitable sequence of events. The inevitable sequence of events starts with Agamemnon having a tremendous flaw that plagued him throughout the story of the Trojan War as well as his return to his home. This flaw starts his downfall to death by allowing him to perform the great mistake. That flaw was Hubris, the capital sin of pride. In Greek Literature, hubris often afflicted rulers and conquerors who, though endowed with great leadership abilities, abused thei...