The Present-Day Implications Of Ancient Greek Tragedy’s Catharsis: “Envy, Sedition, Strife, Carnage And War, Make Up The Tale Of Life”
There was pre and post tragedy catharsis.
The first, meant the medical cleansing of blood (and bowels) – and the second was the amplification or restoration of pity and/or fear. But in Aristotle’s explanation of the term, catharsis becomes a necessary relief of excess emotion in the body. And for the audience, this extends to a relief stemming from the distance between the horrors of the narrative and themselves – someone always has it worse or something like that.
In plot terms, Ancient Greek catharsis was the characters typically performing an action of intense physical pain; think along the lines of a barehanded eyeball removal. Then it graduated to Shakespeare, with the violent deaths of various tragic heroes due to their inability to overcome their fatal flaw.
In the literary sense, catharsis has two parts: first, there are the narrative elements of horror and pity, evoked through pain or death. Then second is the relief of watching the obscene and being shocked, with a degree of distance.
On a general level, experiencing emotions through the fiction of characters is what most narrative fiction texts seek to create.
So, how has the notion of catharsis survived over time?
The second part of the cathartic process, a relief from a certain perspective of self-awareness, is what popularised the notion. The audience’s distance from the events of the narrative is meant to leave room for questioning. According to modern theorists, catharsis should enable people to deal with their subconsciously repressed emotions or memories.
In many senses, catharsis has remained a purification and cleansing practice, although a psychologically beneficial one, as opposed to physically destructive ritual, or even a strange blood-test.
Today, catharsis is used as a practice and notion that seeks to release the hidden causes for certain strong emotions. Whether it’s in therapy or through movies, catharsis is palpable in most of modern-day culture. Catharsis, in the literary sense, has also developed a non-dissolvable bond to nature. In pre-tragedy catharsis individuals were plagued with a physical ailment, while in post, the cities become misery ridden. The nature and the natural world reflect the hardships of its characters; the downfall of the environment is a symptom to the illness of man.
