Euripides and Aristotelian Tragedy - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 13
About This Presentation
Title:

Euripides and Aristotelian Tragedy

Description:

Hero has 'tragic flaw' Some defect or character trait that brings about downfall of hero. Harmartia. hero's error in judgment ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:305
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 14
Provided by: cwar
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Euripides and Aristotelian Tragedy


1
Euripides andAristotelian Tragedy
  • World Literature

2
Euripides
  • Greek playwright
  • Born around 480 B.C. on the island of Salamis
  • Good education
  • Parents had him concentrate on athletics and
    gymnastics
  • Studied philosophy, rhetoric, and poetry
  • Began writing tragedy at 18

3
Euripides
  • Had no real interest in the day-to-day business
    of government and politics
  • Rarely participated in public affairs
  • Fulfilled military service obligation
  • Main concern was drama
  • Put all his energy into his literary efforts

4
Euripides
  • Said to have been
  • serious
  • contemplative
  • moody
  • Took part in few social activities
  • Reputation as an eccentric
  • Spent much of time alone writing in a cave near
    the seashore on Salamis

5
Euripides
  • Friends were
  • Anaxagoras
  • Protagoras
  • Socrates
  • Alcibiades
  • acquainted with Sophocles

6
Tragedy
  • Serious drama
  • typically ends in disaster
  • focuses on a character who undergoes unexpected
    personal reversals

7
Aristotelian Tragedy
  • Aristotles Poetics
  • famous study of Greek dramatic art
  • compares tragedy to such other metrical forms as
    comedy and epic
  • Defines tragedy as a dramatic imitation
    (mimesis),
  • it has a serious purpose
  • uses direct action rather than narrative to
    achieve its ends

8
According to Aristotle
  • Tragedy has six main elements
  • plot
  • character
  • diction
  • thought
  • spectacle (scenic effect)
  • song (music)

9
Aristotle
  • ...tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of
    action and life, of happiness and misery. And
    life consists of action, and its end is a mode of
    activity, not a quality. Now character determines
    men's qualities, but it is their action that
    makes them happy or wretched. The purpose of
    action in the tragedy, therefore, is not the
    representation of character character comes in
    as contributing to the action. Hence the
    incidents and the plot are the end of the
    tragedy and the end is the chief thing of all.
    Without action there cannot be a tragedy there
    may be one without character.... The plot, then,
    is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul
    of a tragedy character holds the second place.

10
Aristotelian Tragedy
  • Aim of tragedy
  • to bring about a "catharsis
  • Arouse sensations of pity and fear
  • "pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by
    the misfortune of a man like ourselves."
  • to purge the audience of these emotions so that
    they leave the theater feeling cleansed and
    uplifted

11
Aristotelian Tragedy
  • This catharsis is brought about by witnessing
    some disastrous and moving change in the fortunes
    of the drama's hero/protagonist.

12
Aristotelian Tragedy
  • Hero has tragic flaw
  • Some defect or character trait that brings about
    downfall of hero
  • Harmartia
  • hero's error in judgment
  • Misstep or mistakes which brings about the
    suffering, downfall, and often death of the hero

13
Aristotelian Tragedy
  • The incidents of tragedy are often beyond the
    hero's control or not closely related to his/her
    personality.
  • The plot is intended to illustrate matters of
    cosmic rather than individual significance.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com