3 - Greek Tragedy

 When I read the final parts of Oedipus, I wondered how his self-injuries reflect on the particular emphasis on character development and how it effects the moral of the story. When you usually see the main character in a story develop character, they change for the better because they learned a lesson from experiencing the plot of the story. In the case of Oedipus Rex, however, Oedipus permanently blinds himself due to the high amount of trauma he experienced in such a short amount of time. While he did learn a lesson on not trying to bend the will of fate, he shrinks from his pride and laments about his deeds. 

This type of development is very intriguing, as it does not follow the hero’s journey in the traditional structure. For the sake of telling a story and emphasizing its morals in a more dramatic and imposing fashion, Sophocles uses the character of Oedipus as an example of what not to follow, rather than having the main character being someone to learn from. This type of structure seems to be used commonly by the Greeks in order to tell such stories, suggesting a different learning philosophy from the present era. 

Another Greek story that reflects this type of plot development is the story of Icarus. While the lesson of the story is to not have such lofty aspirations in achievement, the main character dies as a result of experiencing this lesson. Due to this quick demise, we never get to see Icarus develop, but the moral remains in the same tragic outcome, with this being the event of death rather than a shadow of a former king. 

While both stories fit the idea of negative character development, I believe the Greek story that best shows this philosophy is Pandora’s box. While the opening of the box brought many evils into the world, there was the idea of hope that was last left in the box. Likewise, tales such as Oedipus and Icarus show how there can still be a positive to be learned in tragic acts of fate and error.