1

World Classical Tamil Conference

June 23-27, 2010, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

The Aristotelian tragic vision in Ilango and Sophocles

Andreas L. Katonis
University of Thessaloniki, Greece
<lekato@phil.uoa.gr, akatonis@itl.auth.gr>

Abstract: Aristotle shaped the interpretation of Greek tragedy from the

moment he wrote his major work on the subject, Poetics (there is an attempt
at reconstructing a Poetics II), in the fourth century B.C. Analyzing tragedy in
structural terms, he asserted that it had six components: plot, character,
thought, diction, song, and spectacle. He defined tragedy as an imitation of
an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language
embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being
found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative;
through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.
Aristotle saw tragedy as part of the fundamental principle of the universe
because it portrayed the uncertainty of what might happen, rather than what
has happened. According to Aristotle, the audience developed a cathexis, or
emotional connection, with the tragic hero. Then, because the audience
suspected the outcome, it anticipated and feared what was going to happen
to the hero. When misfortune finally struck, the audience felt pity. Through
these emotions the audience came to a catharsis, or "cleansing."
Aristotle further postulated that the hero needed to be of noble
birth and character and to have committed a major error, or hamartia.
Hamartia, a term derived from archery, means "to miss the target." This error
should arise from some circumstance or attribute of the hero caused by
ignorance or human weakness, which would result in a reversal of fortune, a
peripeteia, and in the downfall of the hero. This hamartia was a mistake, but
not necessarily a sin or moral failing. A simple accident or an involuntary
action might arouse pity, but it would not produce a catharsis for the
audience. The hero would come to recognition, anagnoresis, or discovery of
 2

the events and situation. Often the tragic hero was guilty of hubris, which
could be arrogance toward the gods or one's fellow men. It could consist of
wanton violence against another person or the flagrant dishonoring of
another. This paper would compare the tragic vision of Aristotle as envisaged
in Ilango and Sophocles.

Comparison always helps: it can liberate us from the routine of

conventional responses and bring seemingly distant phenomena together (cf.
Chellappan 1985: 1 ff.). As is normal with comparisons, one finds similarities
and differences. Ilango and Sophocles are both respected classical authors.
The first may have lived, as tradition has, in the 5th c. A.D.1, and Sophocles
lived between 496-406 B.C. in Athens. Similarities may be due to common
origin or to structural reasons, or less probably, to direct influence. For the
given period, a direct influence is difficult to prove and should better be left
out of the scope of the present investigation (cf. Chellappan 1985: 140-142).
Aristotle's seminal work, the Poetics, provides several key concepts
two of which are most important to this investigation: hamartia and
catharsis. Although for a long time, the first was part of the moralizing
interpretation of 'flaw' or 'morally wrong action', it is now well known that
this is, in a simple wording a 'mistake of fact'. This does not restrict
Aristotle's meaning in a way he did not intend (cf. Stinton 1975: 221 ff.).
Linguistics only confirms the anti-moralizing interpretation: the basic
meaning of the related verb hamartano is 'to miss the mark', and anything
figurative is subsequent. It is interesting that the etymological interpretation
of both key words was regarded as problematic for a long time but today a
firm Indo-European (IE) explanation is accepted for both.2 Such an etymology
of the word catharsis was considered problematic though not impossible.3

1 "A date around A.D. 450 would be most appropriate for Cil." (Zvelebil 1975:
114). This paper cannot contribute to the question of creating and dating
Cilappatikāram (cf. Chellappan 1985: 4, and elsewhere).
2 Together with nemertes 'infallible, unmistakable', the word hamartia is to
be reduced to IE *h2mert- (Beekes 2010 I: 83).
3 Cf. EWAia II 635-6; others (DELG 499, Beekes 2010: 614-615) are more
cautious.
 3

The origin, if IE, lies possibly in magic. The Greek meaning is, however,
clearly attached, until this day, to physical purity or to the lack of it
respectively.4 Catharsis is a purgation or purification.
Two important Aristotelian passages on tragedy, hamartia and
catharsis are the following:
"Tragedy [...] is mimesis of an action which is elevated, [...] complete,
and of magnitude; employing the mode of enactment, not narrative; and
through pity and fear accomplishing the | catharsis [...] [i.e. liberation] of
such emotions (VI, 1449b)."5
On hamartia: "Such a person [i.e. hero in a drama] is someone not
preeminent in virtue and justice, and one who falls into adversity not through
evil and depravity, but through some kind of error; [...] and one belonging to
the class of those who enjoy great renown and prosperity, such as Oedipus,
Thyestes, [...] and eminent men from such lineages."6
As Halliwell remarks (1999: 49[a]), catharsis, "the most controversial"
term in the work, was never defined. This should cause no difficulties and
cannot be interpreted otherwise than that the notion was familiar. Aristotle
was a physician and a scientist. He took his example from the medical
practice.7 Figurative usages follow easily, and it is not difficult either, to give
such an interpretation to the great fire that devastated Madurai (cf. Karthik
2008: 109). One might recall in addition the Christian Purgatory, the

4 What we find in etymological dictionaries and other sources, we can

summarize in three possibilities: 1, Indo-European explanation (see e.g.
EWAiA), 2, Semitic explanation (a loanword), 3, Prehellenic explanation (a
loanword of unknown origin). M. Janda, an expert in IE religion and
mythology, is in favour of the first interpretation because he thinks that
binding and undo (cf. Skt. śithirá- 'loose', slack', śrath-, EWAia II 636.663) fit
well in this semantic field. I am indebted to him for some information sent to
me in e-mail, 17 May, 2010).
5 Translation according to Halliwell 1999: 47-48. Cf. also Chellappan 1985:
101.
6 Translation according to Halliwell 1999: 71. Underlinings are mine.
7 For the medical practice known from many sources, cf. Chellappan 1985:
109. Yet there may have been a definition in the lost works of Aristotle (cf.
Halliwell 1999: 17-18).
 4

condition or process of purification or temporary punishment: in some cases

this is conceived, like in German, as a fire (Fegefeuer or Läuterfeuer). One
remembers here the phrase "emendaturis ignibus" in Latin poetry: i.e. 'giving
to fire that will correct my poems' (=burning the bad poems).
Is the Cilappatikāram a tragedy? This is the idea that made Chellappan
to undertake a long study. One would have Cilappatikāram for an epic poem,
yet an analysis in terms of tragedy seems possible. Reading the
Cilappatikāram one definitely has the feeling of a very good composition, the
kind one may experience when reading Shakespeare or following him on
stage. The series of meetings of Kannaki and Kovalan on their way to
Madurai e.g. is not a chance chain of events, it is carefully composed.
If we look for a comparison of the story told by Ilango with a Greek
counterpart we can remember Antigone, the heroine of the homonymous
drama by Sophocles who was the second in the row of the greatest Greek
dramatists. Kannaki was bold enough to oppose the king's order, and sought
justice. Antigone was similarly bold and had a similarly tragic end. She
opposed the king's will when she buried her brother Polyneikes. Kreon, a
tyrant type of king, had prohibited the burial because he considered
Polyneikes a traitor.
Like Kannaki, Antigone too, was deified. Greek mythology puts her
among the goddesses, and it is a question of the poet's or the writer's
intention whether she is shown more or less divine or human.
Sophoclean Antigone was an exponent of divine law and she was
ready to die for her deed. As a philologist, I can't help considering her name
as meaningful: a word, which is the female counterpart of the familiar name
Antigonos but I think the meaning of "anti" ('against') was strongly felt. This
prefix in Greek is very productive. The verb, to which the name can be
connected, "antigennao", has the two meanings "anti" allows: 1, 'generate in
rivalry', or 2, generate in return. In a tragedy a double entendre cannot be
excluded, i.e. you associate something that has not been stated explicitely.
Indeed, in poetry, at least in the Greek and the Latin literature, this was even
a valuable tool of composition. Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and
Iokaste, coming certainly from an anti-marriage, even if neither Oedipus nor
Iokaste were guilty by intention, went against the king. Similarly, Kannaki
opposed the king as if possessed by divine force. In both cases, one can
think of fate as of driving force.
 5

What could correspond to hamartia and to catharsis in the Indian

tradition which is, at first sight, very different from Greek? The answer to this
question has been offered by various authors in various ways, and
differences could be even discouraging. Bharat Gupt dedicated a whole book
(2006), convincing in my opinion, to a comparative study of Greek and Indian
drama concepts where, among many others, also catharsis has been given a
detailed analysis.8 The frame is a parallel study of Aristotle's Poetics and of
the Nāṭyaśāstra by Bharata Muni (dated to between roughly 400 BC and 200
BC). The comparison has an interesting additional dimension: Gupt placed
the two drama theories within the framework of the ancient Indo-European
culture, and thinks that there existed a hieropraxis or sacred drama for
which they were formulated.9 Gupt seems to be right when he points out how
considerable the questions of pollution and purity in the IE antiquity were
(pp. 42 ff.). One can only subscribe to this: these were essential issues both
in Ancient Rome and Italy, and in Ancient Greece, having wide ranging
practices as consequences both in religious and in daily life. It is in this
frame of the "miasma - katharsis" and the "śauca - aśauca" duality that he
arrives at his interpretation of catharsis whereas Chellappan (1985), in a not
less important contribution, offers solutions based mainly on internal
analysis.
To hamartia, a tragic error, i.e. not necessarily deliberate and of which
the culprit was not necessarily conscious, fate or destiny could be paralleled,
a notion, indeed, familiar also in Greek tradition. There are two important
words for fate in Greek: moira and peprōmenon. The first seems to be more
ancient (having to do with meros 'part, share'), the second has a more
dynamic aspect. It is something that superior powers like gods assign to
mortals. Fate in this sense, explains what happened to Kovalan and Kannaki

8 There is an evaluation of the 1994, first edition by Rekha Chaturvedi in

Yavanikā (5, 1995: 111-114).
9 I wonder if the explanation of the concept of drama is exactly this. "Drama"
(<draō/drō), 'to act', 'to do') is the superordinate term to tragedy and
comedy. Although, logically, the first was more important they were
"practices" or "actions" both. To an agōn, a drama contest, a poet submitted
normally a tetralogy that consisted of three tragedies, loosely connected in
content, and one comedy.
 6

since this was the effect of the curse by Neeli on Bharathan: a tragic,
unwanted error which led, in their new life, to the logical fulfilment.
With regard to hamartia, there is perhaps more explicitness in
Antigone's case than in Kannaki's, though, Kannagi too, admits her guilt
immediately before she dies. This recognition (one would call it an
anagnoresis in Greek terms) is due to the information given by the Goddess
of Madurai10 after the great fire, that Kannaki, in her previous life, cursed
someone who happened to be her husband in her present life. The previous
man was Bharathan who mistook a businessman with the name Sangaman
for a spy killing him. His wife, Neeli, from whom the curse came, was reborn
as Kannaki.11 The force of fate is perfect and inevitable: Kannaki followed
Kovalan to the other world. As Chellappan pointed out repeatedly, and as is
also evident in ancient dramas and other literary genres, the cosmic element
is always present. Cosmos and nature are seen through the human
consciousness. If the universe is to be affected this happens by human acts.
If there is an oracle that Madurai will be burnt it is related to a human act:
the gods need the humans for the fulfillment of the divine law (cf.
Chellappan 1985: 98).
An Indian correspondence to catharsis could be rasa, a word found
already in the Vedas. There is a rather long semantic development not to be
followed up here12 with a late equivalent as 'aesthetic emotion' (Chaitanya
1977: 23). The overall positive connotations of the word could explain that
"Later aesthetic theory [...] approximated the bliss of aesthetic experience to
this transcendental experience" (Chaitanya ib.). Gupt dedicated a long
chapter to The Rasa Concept (2006: 260-274), and Chellappan arrives at the
conclusion that "In the action of Cilappatikāram we have the overall effect of
stillness in motion. In structure a dome-like harmony is built out of the
parts, and these are parallel to the concept of rasa, the artistic rendering of a

10 I.e. the Madurāpati Goddess (cf. Chellappan 1985: 104).

11 Cf. Karthik's analysis (2008: 108).
12 The word is not to be separated from Latin rōs 'dew, dew-drop', found also
in Lithuanian as rasà and Old Church Slavonian as rosa with the meaning
'dew' (EWAia II 552). Chantraine would not exclude a connection with Greek
drosos 'dew' (DELG 299). The word still exists in Modern Greek, and
droseros, means today 'cool, fresh'.
 7

pure [...] emotion purged of existential dross" (1985: 124). Indeed, it is still
possible to go further: following K.N. Subramanyam, śānti (literally 'peace') is
considered as 'the final rasa, the rasa of rasas", and Chellappan agrees with
the view that Ilango aims at śānti (ib.). Personally I would ask: is there,
perhaps, anything still deeper since śānti has also the - semantically quite
understandable - meaning 'extinction (of fire)'?13
Summarizing his analysis, Bharat Gupt, in the chapter "Katharsis and
Rasa" (2006: 272-273) represents these concepts as the two extremities of
the same line. The first may be looked upon as a prerequisite for the
manifestation of rasa. According to him, the Indian concept of rasa includes
in its ambit the process of catharsis. Catharsis is a restorative process; it
frees the spectator of emotional imbalance. The doctrine of rasa focuses on
the final state of unmixed delight. This makes them "two ends of the same
spectrum".
In a larger sense, it pays to remember that Antigone's dilemma was
part of a more general philosophical question consisting in the physis -
nomos complex in 5th c. Athens which was present not only in philosophical
thinking but also in politics.
In the Sophoclean interpretation, Antigone's motives were those of
nature (physis), cf. divine law, and the king's motives were those of law
(nomos), i.e. the legislation of a tyrant who gave "law" against nature. In the
Athenian democracy of that time this was understood with a special
sensibility because the famous Periclean democracy maintained that written
and unwritten law were the same thing, and consequently no contradicting
individual and institutional law existed. This allows perhaps establishing one
more parallel: according to Chellappan (1985: 123), rasa is reflected in the
symmetrical structure of the Tamil epic and Kannaki emerges as a symbol of
the deeper unity of Tamil Nadu (Puharkkandam, the Puhar chapter,
Maduraikkandam, the Madurai chapter, and Vanchikkandam, the Vanchi
chapter), indeed, for that world, the entire humanity. Antigone preferred to
kill herself for the divine law which was thought to be the same as that of
the city which happened to be the most important in whole Greece. What she
did for her brother was done also for her city and her native land. She united

13 See MacDonell (1999: 311) for equivalents like 'mental tranquillity, peace
of mind; extinction (of fire); cessation' etc.
 8

divine and human sphere. Kreon, the tyrant king cursed himself and lost his
sight, his son and wife committed suicide. This was not only nemesis, a
divine vengence, this was also a catharsis.

References

Beekes, R.
2010 Etymological Dictionary of Greek I-II. Leiden - Boston: Brill
Chaitanya, K.
1977 A New History of Sanskrit Literature. New Delhi: Manohar
Chellappan, K.
1985 Shakespeare and Ilango as Tragedians. Thanjavur: Tamil
University Publications
DELG Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire
des mots. Par P. Chantraine [...] avec un Supplément sous
la direction de A. Blanc, Ch. de Lamberterie, J.-L. Perpillou.
Paris: Klincksieck 1999
EWAia Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen von M.
Mayrhofer. I-III. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1986-2001
Gupt, Bh.
2006 Dramatic Concepts. Greek and Indian. A Study in the
Poetics and Nāṭyaśāstra. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld (P)
Ltd. (©1993)
Halliwell, St.
1999 Aristotle. Poetics. Edited and Translated by St. H.
Cambridge, Mass. - London, England: Loeb Classical
Library (©1995)
Karthik, S.
2008 The concept of hamartia in Oedipus Rex and Cilappathikaram: a
comparative study. Yavanikā 11: 102-110
MacDonell, A.A.
1999 A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary with Transliteration,
Accentuation, and Etymological Analysis throughout. New Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal. (© Oxford 1924)
 9

Stinton, T.C.W.
1975 Hamartia in Aristotle and Greek tragedy. Classical Quaterly 69
(N.S. 25): 221-154
Zvelebil, K.V.
1975 Tamil Literature. Leiden - Köln: Brill