Iphigenia In Aulis

Aristotle created the foundation for many literary works. He is known as the most influential Greek philosopher who wrote Poetics and Rhetorics, two concepts that are thought to be very significant in literary theory. He believed that a plot with reversal of situation, recognition, and transformation, is the greatest way to write a story or play. He defined plot as the arrangement of incidents and, according to him, tragedies where the outcome depends on a tightly constructed cause-and-effect chain of actions were superior to those that depended on the character and personality of the protagonist. The plot would have to be interconnected with a story or play as a whole with a beginning, middle, and an end. It could be simple or complex, however having one with both reversal of intention, recognition, and transformation would be the best kind of resolution. A plot with a reversal of intention occurs when a character produces an effect opposite to that which he intended to produce, while recognition is a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined for good or bad fortune; also known as fate. Transformation is the metamorphosis of character. One play that has these three distinct recommendation is the play by Euripides called Iphigenia in Aulis.

In the play Iphigenia in Aulis, Greece declared war against Troy after the prince of Troy stole Menelaus?wife. When Agamemnon, the warlord of Greece, assembled an army and set sail for Troy, they had a setback. When the army attempted to sail for Troy, the wind did not blow in such a way to allow the army to successfully reach their intended destination. The army was landlocked because Agamemnon had previously upset the gods by displaying excessive pride during a hunting trip. He made Artemis furious when he shot a deer from her sacred herd, and then boasted about the kill. This made the goddess extremely angry, and this caused the winds to be defective. So in order for the Greek army to cross the seas, Artemis suggested that Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order for the winds to return to normal so his army can travel across the sea safely, so that they brace themselves for war. In this play, Iphigenia plays the role of a dependent, ignorant daughter who later becomes a prestigious, brave heroine. She presents the themes Aristotle introduced in the play which were the themes of recognition, reversal of situation, and transformation because of the certain things she went through and how it progressed.

Aristotle's theme of reversal of situation, recognition, and transformation, were the three major parts of tragedy that were shown in the play. Reversal of situation is a change by which the action veers round to its opposite; something that was suppose to go one way suddenly changing into something unlikely. There were several reversals of situations that occurred throughout the play. First, was when Menelaus confronted Agamemnon with the intercepted letter that was originally suppose to go to Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, informing her keep Iphigenia away from Aulis. These two fellow brothers had a brawl, Menelaus accusing Agamemnon for treason, and Agamemnon accusing Menelaus for having no heart because of the fact that he wanted to have his niece sacrificed so they could go to war with the Trojans. "This letter carries a message of treason!?[Pg.127 Menelaus], "Should I pay the price for these your sins, when I am innocent.?[Pg.131 Agamemnon]: the dispute that they had kept going until page 137 when Menelaus finally realizes that it was na?e of him to be willing to sacrifice his niece in order to go to war and bring back his wife to kill. When both brothers agreed that the sacrifice should be avoided and decided to do something to save Iphigenia's life, the unavoidable happened; Clytemnestra and Iphigenia arrived to Aulis. Another reversal in situation was during the play when at first Iphigenia was against the sacrificed and pleaded to her father to reconsider. "Do not take away this life of mine before its dying time. Nor make me go down under the earth to see the world of darkness...Care of me. I have in memory all these words of yours and mine. But you, forgetting, have willed it in your heart to kill me.?[Pg.176 Iphigenia]: this dialogue from Iphigenia shows that she was pleading for her life. But near the end of the play, she suddenly had a change of heart about the matter, when she said, "Why do you weep for me...No! I am not lost but saved! And you too, though me will be remembered gloriously...Only this-I say goodbye to them now. That is all.?[pg.189-191 Iphigenia]: she put herself out there to sacrifice herself. This sudden switch of attitude was the final reversal of situation in the play.

Recognition, as the name indicates, is