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Great article, although I would quibble with the reference to the “tragic flaw”. What is Oedipus’ tragic flaw? That he’s smart and inquisitive? That he won’t re

Great article, although I would quibble with the reference to the “tragic flaw”. What is Oedipus’ tragic flaw? That he’s smart and inquisitive? That he won’t rest until he learns the truth? These aren’t flaws but strengths. Aristotle, the originator of the term tragic flaw, fundamentally misread Oedipus: Oedipus is not destroyed by a flaw in his character, but by his very strengths! This is partly what makes humanity’s tragic condition so terrifying: that we fundamentally cannot consistently foresee the consequences of our actions and that the thing that ultimately destroys us could be one of our personal strengths applied well but without perfect foresight.

gumby 4y ago
Oedipus’s flaw was devinely inflicted (his curse/prophecy); attempts to thwart it (exposing him on the mountainside rather than, say, simply running him through with a sword at birth)* guaranteed it would result in the most terrible fashion. The point was that Oedipus’ fate was sealed despite his “golden boy” greatness, not because of it. * prophecy being prophecy, had he been killed at birth, that would have brought the kingdom to ruin: the gods’ will is stronger than that or any human.
- periphrasis 4y ago
  Correct, in that as the play opens he has already unknowingly done the things that once revealed will destroy him, which were all the workings of the prophecy. However, in the action of the play itself, he still makes a fateful choice of his own to resolve the mystery of Laius’ murder to expiate the religious pollution causing the plague. A less conscientious king or a less able investigator would not experience the dreadful consequence of this choice: learning the truth. But precisely because Oedipus is conscientious and is intelligent, he uncovers the truth which utterly destroys him. It’s not merely that he was doomed before the play begins, but that he affirmatively makes a choice in keeping with his strength of character that reveals that doom.
andrewflnr 4y ago
Oedipus aside, the notion of the "tragic flaw" is deeply, deeply, deeply entrenched in analysis of the tragedy. Quibbling about one instance is a low-leverage activity. There is a notion that the difference between a strength and a tragic flaw is situational, but I'm not sure how widespread that actually is.
- periphrasis 4y ago
  The "tragic flaw" is a more useful frame for analysis of subsequent Western tragedy, which was obviously heavily influenced by Aristotle's Poetics. However, Aristotle's analysis of tragedy in Poetics is almost solely an analysis of Oedipus: if he was wrong about Oedipus, then his argument for the "tragic flaw" doesn't have much else support. Indeed, it's not a very useful analytical tool when applied to ancient Greek literature, as opposed to subsequent Western literature. What is Achilles' tragic flaw? That he was jealous of his honor, a completely admirable and noble thing for a bronze age warrior? In contrast, Walter White does indeed have a tragic flaw: he is prideful. His ordinary, stable life as a high school chemistry teacher was less than he felt he deserved, and when his cancer diagnosis disrupts that status quo, he is set on a path that ultimately destroys him and everything he cared about. But here we have an instance of tragedy written after literally millenia of Aristotle's mistaken analysis of Oedipus defining expectations for tragedy. There's plenty else in Poetics that is very useful, and obviously its influence on literary criticism and analysis is profound. But one of its most famous findings is, well, tragically flawed.
  - Cupertino95014 4y ago
    Did Aristotle say that Achilles had a tragic flaw? Or even that The Iliad was a tragedy? I'm not saying he didn't; just asking.
    - periphrasis 4y ago
      He classifies it as epic poetry, although I don't recall off hand the details of discussion of Achilles, if there even was any. But the Iliad is most certainly a tragedy in its dramatic elements; indeed you simply would not have Athenian tragic drama if Homer and the Iliad were not central to ancient Greek culture. The "Greek Tragic Vision" is Iliadic, and it extends it reach throughout Greek literature, not just the theatrical genre called tragedy: for example, Thucydides' history cannot be fully understood without reference to the tragic vision.
goto11 4y ago
The "tragic flaw" is an imprecise translation from the Greek word, which can also mean a "tragic error". Oedipus tragic error is of course that he unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. It is not a character flaw as such.

gumby 4y ago

Oedipus’s flaw was devinely inflicted (his curse/prophecy); attempts to thwart it (exposing him on the mountainside rather than, say, simply running him through with a sword at birth)* guaranteed it would result in the most terrible fashion. The point was that Oedipus’ fate was sealed despite his “golden boy” greatness, not because of it. * prophecy being prophecy, had he been killed at birth, that would have brought the kingdom to ruin: the gods’ will is stronger than that or any human.

periphrasis 4y ago
Correct, in that as the play opens he has already unknowingly done the things that once revealed will destroy him, which were all the workings of the prophecy. However, in the action of the play itself, he still makes a fateful choice of his own to resolve the mystery of Laius’ murder to expiate the religious pollution causing the plague. A less conscientious king or a less able investigator would not experience the dreadful consequence of this choice: learning the truth. But precisely because Oedipus is conscientious and is intelligent, he uncovers the truth which utterly destroys him. It’s not merely that he was doomed before the play begins, but that he affirmatively makes a choice in keeping with his strength of character that reveals that doom.

andrewflnr 4y ago

Oedipus aside, the notion of the "tragic flaw" is deeply, deeply, deeply entrenched in analysis of the tragedy. Quibbling about one instance is a low-leverage activity. There is a notion that the difference between a strength and a tragic flaw is situational, but I'm not sure how widespread that actually is.

periphrasis 4y ago
The "tragic flaw" is a more useful frame for analysis of subsequent Western tragedy, which was obviously heavily influenced by Aristotle's Poetics. However, Aristotle's analysis of tragedy in Poetics is almost solely an analysis of Oedipus: if he was wrong about Oedipus, then his argument for the "tragic flaw" doesn't have much else support. Indeed, it's not a very useful analytical tool when applied to ancient Greek literature, as opposed to subsequent Western literature. What is Achilles' tragic flaw? That he was jealous of his honor, a completely admirable and noble thing for a bronze age warrior? In contrast, Walter White does indeed have a tragic flaw: he is prideful. His ordinary, stable life as a high school chemistry teacher was less than he felt he deserved, and when his cancer diagnosis disrupts that status quo, he is set on a path that ultimately destroys him and everything he cared about. But here we have an instance of tragedy written after literally millenia of Aristotle's mistaken analysis of Oedipus defining expectations for tragedy. There's plenty else in Poetics that is very useful, and obviously its influence on literary criticism and analysis is profound. But one of its most famous findings is, well, tragically flawed.
- Cupertino95014 4y ago
  Did Aristotle say that Achilles had a tragic flaw? Or even that The Iliad was a tragedy? I'm not saying he didn't; just asking.
  - periphrasis 4y ago
    He classifies it as epic poetry, although I don't recall off hand the details of discussion of Achilles, if there even was any. But the Iliad is most certainly a tragedy in its dramatic elements; indeed you simply would not have Athenian tragic drama if Homer and the Iliad were not central to ancient Greek culture. The "Greek Tragic Vision" is Iliadic, and it extends it reach throughout Greek literature, not just the theatrical genre called tragedy: for example, Thucydides' history cannot be fully understood without reference to the tragic vision.

goto11 4y ago

The "tragic flaw" is an imprecise translation from the Greek word, which can also mean a "tragic error". Oedipus tragic error is of course that he unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. It is not a character flaw as such.