Sophocles` Oedipus The King And Shakespeare`S Othello Essay Example for Free

Sophocles Oedipus The might And ShakespeareS Othello EssayGreek literature was bass in dramas and tragic heroes.The main rules for defining the real tragic hero were summarized and sharply distinguished by Aristotle he worked out six principal(prenominal) characteristics for the true tragic hero tragic flaw, hubris, anagnorisis, peripeteia, nemesis and catharsis hamartia a serious mistake, which is the main reason of downfall of the hero, this mistake is often made because of hubris extreme pride, aft(prenominal) the downfall the hero learns a lesson or deals a discovery this is defined by the notion anagnorisis, coke of fortune is called peripeteia, nemesis means some circumstances, which the hero could not avoid, practically his fate. Aristotle, 13).The last one catharsis denotes the feeling of fear and pity experienced by the audience in closing this should be a person who is between these extremes . . . a person who is neither undefiled in virtue and justice, n or one who move into misfortune through vice and depravity, but rather, one who succumbs through some miscalculation (Aristotle, 18). Guided by the above-mentioned instructions we are going to analyze two famous plays Sophocless Oedipus the king and Shakespeares Othello, namely their main heroes. Both Oedipus and Othello are tragic heroes.They both show signs of hubris, yet they have estimable qualities that have raised them to the position they have. In fact, their very strengths are also their weaknesses. Most critics consider Oedipus the perfect example of tragic hero. Indeed if to evaluate the correspondence of Oedipus to the characteristics of Aristotle he meets all the parameters. His nobility is out of question, as he was born in a royal family, although raised by adoptive parents, who were also the King and Queen of Corinth, and finally, when he managed to solve the riddle of Sphinx, he got the dominion over the city.Shakespeares Othello is also a tragic hero and also corr esponds to the Aristotles characteristics. Othello, as well as Oedipus, had to come through pride, smutty mistake and self-destruction. Othello is a noble man and an outstanding military leader. But in reality his illustriousness was combined with his weakness on the one go past he was brave and intelligent, on the other hand he was somewhat passive and fell under the influence and allowed Iago manipulate him.Oedipuss hubris could be seen in his desire to prove to his city that he was able to solve the mystery and save the citizens from the plague. Besides he was rather self -assured, which can be confirmed by his own words in the outset lines of the prologue, when he states Here I am myselfyou all know me, the world knows my fame I am Oedipus. (Sophocles, 11). Oedipus had either reason to believe that he was a prominent personality and he wanted to support his risque status for his subordinates, in this way his strength unexpectedly for him off into his weak side.Hamartia of Oedipus is very important and sophisticated. His tragic flows rooted from his lack of knowledge about his true identity, but he could not be responsible for his flow as he was not able to change anything with his actions. In fact, Oedipus didnt make any mistakes, he suffered the consequences of somebody elses old mistake in the past. Actually the peripetea is closely associate to hamartia of Oedipus, as the bad fortune followed the hero from his very birth.Othellos hamartia or downfall, when she killed his dear wife, was the result of his hubris he was so much afraid that his pride could be hurt in result of Desdemonas unfaithfulness that he didnt even stop to think whether all the Iagos arguments were overcompensate or not Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago (Shakespeare, 8). Moreover he preferable to trust Iago instead of listening to his wife.In this case such virtue as trust turned out to have a destructing force for th e hero. In contrast to Oedipus Othello could avoid his tragic flow, if only his reply to the words of Iago were different. Catharsis of the audience is characterized by very profound emotions and feelings of sympathy towards Oedipus, when he instead of committing suicide, chose spartan tortures for himself. When Oedipus realized what had happened to him in reality, he said Oh, oh, then everything has come out true.Light, I shall not grimace on you Again. I have been born where I should not be born, I have been matrimonial where I should not marry, I have killed whom I should not kill now all is build (Sophocles, 32). Being blind he belonged neither to this word nor to the other word, thus his suffering was not end even at the end of the play. No doubts, that the audience experienced sympathy and pity for Othello after his murder. The identification of his awful deed hurt Othello deeply, but as distinct from Oedipus he chose suicide.Overall, both heroes Othello and Oedipus c ould be referred to as classical examples of Aristotles tragic hero. They are both very strong and outstanding personalities, noble and median(a) after getting their high positions they however developed such features as obstinacy, self-assurance, mightiness. Both of them took wrong decisions and became the victims of their ignominious mistakes, which finally transformed their strengths into their weak points and led to tragic finals.