6 « Back to Glossary Index
(Greek: ἀναγνώρισις) The moment of critical recognition — when the protagonist discovers a truth that transforms their understanding of their own situation. In Oedipus Rex, it is the revelation that Oedipus is the killer he has been hunting, the son of the couple whose fate he was fleeing. In Macbeth, it occurs when he realizes the witches’ prophecies were semantic traps. Aristotle considered anagnorisis most powerful when it coincides directly with peripeteia.
« Back to Glossary Directory
