Tragedy
The ancient Greek culture was rich with extraordinary poetries of great kings and queens, gods and goddesses, which furthered its whole generation. Poetries about families and wars happened in many ways where some were ended happily and others sadly. In another word, the poetic events had happy endings and bad endings. However, the later was defined to be a tragedy. According to those poetries in the Greek culture, some writers, such as Plato and Aristotle, expressed their feelings differently. From Plato, he understood poetry differently comparing to Aristotle. He didn’t at all found it as a good thing. He supported that poet writes out of inspiration, poetry teaches the wrong things, and poetry is mimesis at two remorse from reality. However, from Aristotle, he pursued that poetry is ashill-At refuse reason, poetries are representations which educate us the thing itself, and poetry arouses emotions but in a good way. In term of tragedy also, Plato found it as pity, fear and catharsis, where Aristotle defends it as a complete work where things work together. Even though Plato describes poetry and tragedy as bad thing, we optimistically support Aristotle’s arguments as good what both supposes to be considered.
According to Aristotle, “tragedy is an imitation of action that is serious, complete, and possessing magnitude; in embellished language, each kind of which is used separately in the different parts; in the mode of action and not narrated; and effecting through pity and fear [what we call] the catharsis of such emotions”. "Aristotle's famous study of Greek dramatic art, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) compares tragedy to such other metrical forms as comedy and epic. He determines that tragedy, like all poetry, is a kind of imitation (mimesis), but adds that it has serious purpose and uses direct action rather than narrative to achieve its ends" [1] Great work of Aristotle, he tried to bring some orders to explain poetry by classifying it in four parts. First of all he mentioned by saying that a tragedy starts with a reversal where a character change from what he was to the opposite. Secondly, the recognition of the character of what he become, will be the next step. At last, the suffering and the catharsis. By applying what we found in Aristotle’s discussion about tragedy to the poetry of the cruel reply of Kreon to Antigone when she buried her brother, it becomes very delicate how the text bring up in an awesome way the four parts of tragedy issued by Aristotle. From the text, Kreon proved to be a loyal chief in his city. He was greatly considered with all people in there. He controlled the two daughters of Oedipus, Antigone and Ismene, in his house. However, after the death of their two brothers, Eteokles and Polyneikes, Kreon refused to honor the burial of Polyneikes. Therefore, Antigone decided to break the law of Kreon, the chief, and went to bury her brother. Thus, Kreon decided to punish her badly. Tiresias, the seer, warned Kreon to really grant Antigone from the punishment as being the daughter of Oedipus and also being to honor her brother. Even though Kreon was warned about pains and losses which can harm him deeply, he insisted that the law should pass on everyone even if it’s in his family. He even didn’t considered the love his son, Haimon, had for Antigone. He enclosed her inside the cave’s vault. He ordered to leave her in so she will die in that black hole. Accordingly to Aristotle argument, the reversal starts when Kreon saw the punishments he warned about becoming true. First of all, his son walked away with deep grieves because he was deprived of his love. Then, he hung himself and suicided. At the same time, Kreon’ beloved wife, Eurydike, drove the blade in her live according to the loss of her lone son. After a while, Keon received both news due to his deafness, to his adamant bad decisions. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself because he thought he was the smartness. So, from his beliefs before, he turned into a deep lamentable situation where he felt his life as nothing on earth. He had no reason to leave and had nobody in his side expect on. From that point, Kreon realized that he was the one who was wrong. His celebrity and his confidence in self-capability turned into a huge shame of deafness and an individual arrogance. As an adult to make differences between good and wrong, he recognized that the faulty one, was him. In the text, Kreon asserted that “I have learned that lesson now-in all its bitterness”. Conscientiously, he was aware that he was the one who starts the woes damaging his entire family and putting him in an unrecovered situation. He could never bring his son and wife lives back. Next, Kreon suffered from In conclusion, even though Kreon was on upon a time, an appreciated chief by everyone in his kingship, he finished up as a desperate king deprived of all of his family. His arrogance and deafness caused him a painful disaster, regrettable and unforgettable. His life became worthless, and he aimed death to take his life because he had no reason to live in life. Therefore, if Kreon listened to Tiresias’ advices or inspired himself of Oedipus’ woes in times in life, he would be exempted of whatever happened to him. He could lead longer and end up as a wise and respectful master.
- ^ Cliff Notes. Houghton Mifflin https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/agamemnon-the-choephori-and-the-eumenides/critical-essay/ariistotle-on-tragedy.
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