Aristotle The Poetics

• First commentary on theatre.
• In his Poetics, he defined the elements of tragedy.

 

Elements of Tragedy:

• Tragic Hero - imperfect, suffers more than he deserves. 
• He is possessed of Hamartia (sin), i.e. an error in judgement, a fatal mistake, a tragic flaw.
• His troubles can often be traced to Hubris (excessive pride)
• Character can be humbled -- eg) Oedipus' advice to young daughters.
• Jocasta's reassurance of Oedipus is ironic, since she had believed in oracles well enough to abandon her baby.

 

• Catharsis - Is a response of the audience.  Why do people enjoy tragedy?  Audience undergoes Catharsis -- the cleansing of the soul through which pity and fear are evoked.  It teaches them that the Universe is not secure, in that any moment it may fall apart.

• Classical Belief:  appreciation for individual human achievement.  Man can be great, but not arrogant.

 

• Deterministic Universe (Ancient Greece)Oedipus the King
• Free Will: Existentialism:  Human doesn't exist until he makes a choice for himself. (Modern Philosophy) Antigone.

• Tragedy features a reversal of fortune.  Someone great is humbled and brought down.
• Fall of 2 in Antigone -- heroic sacrifice, defeat and also victory in her heroic death.

 

• Recognition -- Tragic hero sees something he hasn't seen before in last scenes of play -- something becomes clear.
• learns humility
• Creon’s early belief that strength comes through inflexibility
• always arrogance and pride that gets him into trouble.
• Truth is always established and revealed
• Antigone does not regret what she has done.  She accepts death willingly or at least bravely.

 

Oedipus The King and Antigone

• there are similarities and differences between the 2 plays:
• distinction between determinism in Oedipus, who is doomed from birth and that of Creon and Antigone:

                        -Creon might have changed his fate
-Antigone apparently chooses what path she takes.

• illusion of free will in Greek world -- more apparent in Antigone; it seems more modern ie. heroic choice despite King's orders.
• Antigone defies the stubborn king, but is vindicated.
• her death is missed only by minutes
• more death and bodies: Haemon, Antigone, Eurydice

 

*-Examine extent to which fatalism and free will appears in plays

• Antigone written first, 40 years before Oedipus.  The old men are represented as fools, ie. Young (Haemon) stand up to evil of Father, (Creon)
• similar to existentialist thought -- morality in Antigone.
• Female Hero

 

• Creon didn't have enough heroic qualities to become a tragic hero.
• Obedience to Gods comes before obedience to law of Man.
• 2 proud individuals:  arrogance of Creon and stubbornness of Antigone (sister and King accuse Antigone of stubbornness)
• Creon realizes wrongs too late.  Tiresias advises him.
• Difference between fatalism and free will seen in the advice of Tiresias the prophet.  Can Creon's fate be changed?
• The gods punish arrogance. Antigone suffers, but is glorified for her adherence to the laws of the gods.
• Creon becomes a broken man.
• Use of symbolism -- dark and light
• Antigone as child of light representing TRUTH; darkness represents ignorance. Apollo is the god of Light and Truth.

*Review elements of Tragedy -- how they are applied to the two plays.

 

Roman Poets

• Greek culture not destroyed by Romans
• Adopted Greek culture -- culture passed on, translated into Latin
• Roman Epic captures culture of people, create continuity of myth.
• Aeneid is a reversal of the story of the fall of Troy.

 

Virgil (Vergil) 70 - 19 BC

• Studied oratory and philosophy
• Wrote The Aeneid at the age of 40.
• Used Greek origins, similar to Iliad and Odyssey.
• Consciously literary work, unlike Greek epics.
• Used Homer's metre

 

• Hero sets off with son and elderly father
• Lands on North African coast.  Dido, Queen of Carthage --falls in love, wants to keep him.
• Continues on, founds city that will fulfill his destiny.
• Odysseus named Ulysses

Characters:

Aeneas - Trojan warrior and prince who tells the story in first poem.
Anchises - Aeneas' father
Ascanius - son of Aeneas and Creusa
Cassandra - Trojan princess whose prophecies are not believed.
Creusa - Aeneas' wife
Laocoon -Trojan priest
Priam - Troy's king
Pyrrhus – Achilles’ son, who murders King Priam
Athena - War and Wisdom

The Romans considered themselves descendants of the Trojans, and identified with Aeneas as their great leader and first emperor.

 

• Father does not want to go
• "Flatly refused to prolong his life, now Troy was finished, or to endure exile."
• "Not to add his weight to the doom which was heavy upon us." - Allusion to Aeneid in The Grapes of Wrath.
• Why sympathy for Aeneas?  Sympathetic, suffers, lonely, loses wife, but founds Rome.  He is not a hero in battle, but founds a new empire.

 

Ovid (43 BC - AD 17)

• Wrote Amores, Art of Love, Metamorphoses - his greatest.  It retells many Greek myths.
• Ovid imposes more theme on stories.  They are all stories of transformation, ie, Chaos to present world, Caesar to a blazing star.
• Essence of Classical values in Daedalus and Icarus.

 

Summary:
-Daedalus exiled to Crete
-Decides to escape through sky -- Minos' power does not extend to sky.
-Made wings of feathers and wax.
-Told son not to fly too high or too low
-Icarus' wax on wings melted, crashed and drowned.
-Water now Icarian, land Icaria.

Classical Values:

1) Admiration for Individual human achievement.
2) Man must not seek to rise above his assigned position in the universe.
3) Seek moderation in all things. (fly a middle course)
4) Perfection is achieved through balance (avoiding extremes)
5) Let Reason govern Passion