The Tragedy Of Medea By Sophocles - 1611 Words

Aristotle’s poetics goes into vast detail regarding what characteristics are necessary for a top-notch tragedy. While these norms may seem to be easily understood through the reading of Aristotle’s fine-tuned poetics, there is a different understanding that needs to be interpreted to truly grasp the significance and qualifications that makeup a good tragedy. Of the many tragedies that Euripides provides us with, I chose the tragedy of Medea to further analyze, and present a strong argument for why I think Aristotle would find Medea a top-notch tragedy. According to Aristotle, a top-notch tragedy consists of six main elements, a strong plot, storyline, style, morals, ideas, staging and music, with the most important of these six being that of the plot. I strongly feel that in terms of what entails a quality tragedy, Euripides Medea meets a large majority of these things. Medea offers us a tragedy that is filled with a concrete plot, a strong source of tragic effect as well as a well-put together sequence of events to which lead up to the unfolding of such events. One of the most critical aspects to a top-notch tragedy is the role and characteristics that an â€Å"ideal† tragic hero should posses. In this particular tragedy, this is the role to which Medea plays. A tragic hero is a character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his or her own self-destruction. According to Aristotle’s an ideal tragic hero is â€Å"a man not outstanding in virtue or justice,Show MoreRelatedTragedy In Oedipus Rex And Antigone By Euripides784 Words   |  4 Pagespaper are the famously known Greek tragedies; Oedipus Rex and Antigone by Sophocles and Medea by Euripides that not only have the common genre of tragedy, but share the same motifs; homicide, suicide, and suffering. What is intriguing about these commonalities is that these playwrights, Sophocles and Euripides, use them. Homicide is an act when a human permanently harms another leading in death and these plays like to use it quite a bit. In Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, the main character Oedipus (kingRead MoreEvaluation of Euripides Essay942 Words   |  4 Pagesconventions of Attic Tragedy up to a particular extent. Although he was often criticised for his work, he followed the structure and cycles of the traditional tragedy. However, his stance on the themes and ideas set him apart from the other writers. It is unreasonable to compare Euripides with the traditional writers of Attic tragedy without understanding his attitude and the reason for this attitude. Although he was only fifteen years older than Sophocles, he belonged toRead MoreSophocles Euripides Antigone1310 Words   |  6 PagesIn Sophocles’ Antigone, and in Euripides’ Medea, the Greek authors take on the topic of justice. Each playwright addresses the issue of injustices suffered by women and the concept of natural law. In both tragedies, the female leads seek justice after natural laws had been broken, but they ultimately break the natural law themselves, resulting in more injustice. During Medea s first long speech (lines 212 - 271), she declares that women are stricken with the most wretched existence on earth.Read MoreThe Tragic Women Of Tragedy985 Words   |  4 PagesThe Tragic Women of Tragedy Euripides and Sophocles wrote powerful tragedies that remain influential to this day. The vast majority of work recovered from this time is by male authorship. What remains about women of this time is written through the lens of male authors’ perspective and beliefs about the role of women in Greek culture. The works of these two playwrights frequently characterize women as unstable and dangerous. Agave, Antigone, and Medea are all undoubtedly the driving force behindRead MoreMedea And Oedipus Rex1447 Words   |  6 Pagesone sided answer. However, upon closer inspection, it is acceptable to say that although some would argue that people’s own desires dictate their actions, the influences of others play a more prominent role in how an individual acts. The Greek tragedies â€Å"Medea† and â€Å"Oedipus Rex† are both stories that explore this controversial topic. â€Å"Oedipus Rex† follows the story of a king named Oedipus. His land is plagued, and the only way to get rid of this plague is to exile the one who killed the previous rulerRead MoreAnalysis Of Euripides The Play Medea 1202 Words   |  5 PagesThree† of tragedians, Euripides was, in his time, less successful than both Aeschylus and Sophocles, who had 13 and 20 victories. Euripides’ writing was drastically different from that of the others. While playwrights like Sophocles wrote characters the way they should be ideally, Euripides wrote his characters truthfully and portrayed people as compassionate and cruel and complicated as humans really are. In Medea, Euripides details the story of the play’s namesake and leads readers to question hisRead More Comparing Female Characters in Euripides Medea and Sophocles Oedipus the King and Antigone1555 Words   |  7 PagesComparing Female Characters in Euripides Medea and Sophocles Oedipus the King and Antigone      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the times of the ancient Greeks, women had an unpretentious role. They were expected to do take on the accepted role of a woman.   In most cases, a womans role is restricted to bearing young, raising children, and housework. In Sophocles Oedipus   the King, Antigone, and Medea, the dominant female characters impacted upon men with authority and political power.   It is Read MoreThe Era of Greek Tragedy Essay2487 Words   |  10 PagesThe Era of Greek Tragedy In Athens, during the final thirty years of sixth century B.C. playwrights began creating the earliest drama in all of Europe, Greek tragedy (Sifakis, â€Å"Greek Tragedy†). Though now the products of the movement are seen as pieces of literature to be read, they originated as theatrical pieces meant to be performed on the stage. The tragedies were mostly derived from stories about their gods, such as Hades, Zeus and Nyx. In that time period, tales of these immortals wereRead MoreComparing Oedipus And Oedipus : Similarities And Differences1634 Words   |  7 PagesGaray Estefes Professor Dayna Castle 2332 21 September 2015 Medea and Oedipus: Similarities and Differences When comparing Oedipus and Medea we see the battle of good versus evil, as there is in any story that has a heroic or non heroic figure in the, but this time it is a little bit different from a normal good versus evil story since they are of course both tragedies. The question, in these stories, is whether or not Oedipus or Medea display any heroic qualities during the tragic battles, andRead MoreGreek vs. Roman Theatre Essay3174 Words   |  13 PagesHistoric playwrights such as Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, and Seneca were described as prolific philosophers and geniuses of their times. These men actively participated in the politics surrounding them, and were respected and revered in their society. Each had their own individual style and portrayed their personalities through each of their noted works. Nevertheless, as with a majority of playwrights throughout history, most fodder for their plays have been adaptations of previous plays written