Oedipus Rex

Answer the following questions as you read “Tragedy and Comedy,” pp. 1303-1307 of Perrine’s Literature.

• 1. What is the perfect definition, the airtight system of classification of drama?
• 2. What is the most important question to ask about a play?
• 3. Why should a reader or viewer of drama be familiar with traditional notions of tragedy and comedy?
• 4. What type of man does Aristotle call for in an ideal tragedy?
• 5. What two symbolic values may the king as hero possess?
• 6. Why is it important that the hero occupy a high position or possess good fortune at the beginning?
• 7. The tragic hero is good but not perfect. According to Aristotle from what does his

fall result?

• 8. If the tragic action arises from ignorance or nobility, how can it be criminal?
• 9. A misreading of Aristotle has given rise to the strongly held concept that the hero’s fall is due to a “tragic flaw”—some fault of character such as inordinate ambition, quickness to anger, a tendency to jealousy, or overweening pride. Others sometimes attribute the fall to excessive nobility that makes the character unfit for life among ordinary mortals. In these cases, who is responsible for the hero’s downfall?