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Aristotelian Tragedy

Aristotelian Tragedy. The foundation for Shakespearean Tragedy and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Aristotelian Tragedy, cont. Named for Greek philosopher, Aristotle Aristotle fl. 350 BC Student of Plato, who was the student of Socrates Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great

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Aristotelian Tragedy

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  1. Aristotelian Tragedy The foundation for Shakespearean Tragedy and Shakespeare’s Macbeth

  2. Aristotelian Tragedy, cont. • Named for Greek philosopher, Aristotle • Aristotle fl. 350 BC • Student of Plato, who was the student of Socrates • Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great • Wrote about poetry and drama in his book Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry)

  3. Aristotelian Tragedy, cont.Aristotelian Tragedy happens when… • A man of high social standing… • … experiences a downfall… • …because of a fault – a minor flaw – in his otherwise perfect character… • … where this flaw is exposed only because of the tragic action of the play in which the hero’s story is told.

  4. Aristotelian Tragedy, cont. • In Aristotelian tragedy, the hero (protagonist) of the drama is invariably a king. • The king experiences a downfall because some grave societal problem prompts a display of hubris, to which the gods respond by “knocking him down a peg.” • The protagonist (in Aristotelian tragedy) does NOT die as a result of his sin. • The quintessential Aristotelian tragedy is Oedipus the King, by Sophocles (c. 440 BC)

  5. Purpose of Aristotelian Tragedy • Aristotelian tragedies, typically written in “cycles” of three plays (e.g. Oedpius the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone) were performed at the climax of city-state elections in ancient Athens. • The purpose of watching the tragedies unfold was to achieve catharsis – emotional purgation – which the Athenians believed was a necessary part to the election process.

  6. Isn’t that kind of twisted? • Emotional purgation by watching the suffering of others • Haven’t you heard of: Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil, COPS, Intervention, Speeders, Nadya Suleman, etc., etc., etc.

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