Oedipus Rex
Teacher exemplars
Critical Response
We may ask, what is the point of the Greek tragedies that have come down to us if it is not that life is not one-sided and simple? To say, furthermore, that life lacks the sunny optimism of the Greeks and is, instead, marked with a sense of sin, is to ignore chorus after chorus in the Greek tragedies, representing, in effect, the ideal spectator and the author himself, in which we see a basically pessimistic view of life. One thinks of the last lines of the most famous play of all, Sophocles' Oedipus the King: "Here is the truth of each man's life: we must wait and see his end, scrutinize his dying day, and refuse to call him happy till he has crossed the border of his life without pain." That this was not an isolated sentiment but one widely held and influential, may be seen from its occurrence in Herodotus, who quotes it in the name of the revered wise leader Solon, Euripides, Aristotle and many more. To judge a man before his death will be judging him unjustly because only after death is a person’s deed truly visible.
Journal Entry
Response: Tragic during the fifth literary work involves the main character being brought to ruin or suffering extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. Modern definitions of tragic can include the Holocaust, slavery, mistreatment of the poor, World Trade Center bombing, and so on…….