Sophocles and Aristotle: The Rules of Writing

A detailed Summary of Sophocles and Aristotle: The Rules of Writing

Writing, particularly story writing, is an art. When a person sets out to create a painting, there are certain rules of composition that need to be followed. In the art of writing, it is the same. There are rules of composition for writing and they must be followed by the writer. Some of these rules date back to Aristotle, who set down some rules for classical drama in his Poetics, a collection of class notes in which Aristotle attempted "to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds" (1028). These rules, adhered to by great writers for centuries, were preceded by at least one great classical work: Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Interestingly, even though Oedipus the King came before Poetics, Sophocles' play illustrates Aristotle's rules for classical drama. Oedipus the King particularly displays a tragic emotion, a tragic character, and a tragic fall according to Aristotle's rules.

Aristotle says that a tragedy should "imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragi

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Literature of the Western world. Ed. D. Anthony English. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992. 719-767.

Aristotle also describes a tragic character, a hero of sorts who is a good and virtuous person, but who destroys himself by a particular flaw or error (1036). In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is just such a character. He is described in glowing terms as "more like a god than any man alive" (66). He is called "greater than any man" (52). He exclaims "nothing can dishonor me, ever" (1355-1356). Yet he is condemned to murder his father and to sleep with his mother (1481-1484). He has attempted to escape his fate, as his parents attempted to escape theirs, and in doing so he has made that fate possible. He has cursed himself unwittingly, his own father's killer (316-343). He has, in a fit of anger, cried "Damn my own good!" (1334). Inadvertently, that is precisely what he has done. But because he has done it inadvertently he is not an evil character, he simply fits Aristotle's idea of a tragic character.

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Approximate Word count = 723
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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