Comparative analysis between the works: Oedipus and Oedipus Rey
Introduction
In the introduction to the translation of Heracles de Euripides the German philologist Wilamowitz defines the Greek tragedy as follows: “An attic tragedy is in itself a complete piece of the heroic legend, elaborated poetically in a high style for representation throughof an attic choir of citizens and two or three actors, and destined, as part of the public religious service, to be represented in the Sanctuary of Dionysus.
As Wilamowtiz mentions, the origin of the Greek theater is the appearance of choirs as part of the cult rituals of Dionisio, which at some point specialized, some took as main themes the suffering of the mythical hero and led to the tragedy, and others basedHis performance in comic motifs to cause laughter, leading to comedy.
Developing.
Classic tragedies, according to the development offered by Albin Lesky in his book "History of Greek literature", mostly, have a series of characteristic features. In the first place, Lesky talks about the dignity of the fall, that is, what we feel as tragic should be the safety fall of the character giving way to misery. The second feature is the relationship of the work with our own reality.
The main objective of the tragedy is to identify ourselves with the tragic dimension of the hero’s miseries and relate it to our lives. Aristotle is aware of this, and in his “poetic” work he relates tragedy to direct mimesis, that is, the imitation of reality. The third feature, the acceptance of the tragic fact, is directly related to the first of these features and consists of the resignation and acceptance of the hero of the tragic situation, of all the consequences of this one that suffers and that they do not have a solution of all favorableFor the character.
This absence, most of the time, "happy" is the basis of the fourth feature mentioned by Lesky: the irremediable opposition, which, deep down, is about the existence of a conflict that does not have an a priori solutionDue to a series of circumstances. This does not mean that the end cannot be positive in some cases, but, for example, in the work of Oedipus Rey, object of this work, and as we will see later in depth, both the theme and the end of the work is "negative". Is
The fifth feature that you identify in your works is the concept of classical guilt. Already in the Iliad and the Odyssey, prior to the tragedy of the classical era, there is a deep feeling of helplessness to the power of the gods. The heroes make fatal mistakes instigated by the gods, those who cannot oppose and for those who are convicted. This circumstance is called Até. The characters of the tragedies have the function of teaching the public the consequence of incurring the anger of the gods and not knowing how to contain passion within logic.
Conclusions.
Aristotle in the "poetics" says the change of destiny is the core of the tragic myth and that the fall experienced by the hero does not have so much to do with physical such as moral errors, having not known how to recognize the right thing and obtain appropriate advice. And the sixth, and last, a feature that you identify in the classical tragedy is that the tragic event made a meaning. Man falls into guilt and only finds the atonement of it in suffering, suffering leads man to understanding, and understanding of knowledge.
Bibliography
- Die Griechische Tragödie, from A. Lesky. (Translation by Juan Godó Costa, Editorial Labor. SA, Barcelona).
Leave feedback