Aristotle in his famous book “Poetics” lays down the characteristics essential for a tragedy to be a perfect one. For Aristotle, any tragedy is a perfect tragedy when the action has seriousness, magnitude and is complete in itself. Peripeteia, anagnorisis and catharsis are some of the essential features of a perfect tragedy according to Aristotle. King Oedipus from the Greek mythology posses all the characteristics of a perfect tragedy. Oedipus undergoes a reversal of fortune as he suffers from happiness to sorrow and misery which is said to be termed as hamartia. This draws him to the state of anagnorisis which is the result of peripeteia. Catharsis is the state which further comes in the life of the protagonist with the discovery which leads to great pain and sufferings to both the hero and the audience. Oedipus discovers that the man he had killed was his own biological father and the woman he had married was his own biological mother. This knowledge about the reality left him in great distress and loneliness. This created a feeling of pity and fear in the minds of audience as according to Aristotle, a tragedy is successful when it can arouse the feeling of pity and fear in the minds of the viewers. Aristotle speaks of the language, diction and thought to be as simple that it may reach the maximum audience. For him the plot creation is of utmost importance. Any episode or event in the story should have a proper connection with the main plot. Oedipus not just passes the test of a perfect tragedy but also has created a place in the minds of the audiences till date leaving the same impact as it would have done on his first day.
