Don'T Shoot The Messenger

Prior to the invention of the internet, the television set, and even the postal service, the humble messenger played a vital role in the ancient Greek social structure. The messenger carried imperative missives throughout a territory and between neighboring kingdoms, literally running the messages from place to place. By simply perusing the acclaimed Greek play Oedipus Rex, modern analysts witness the significance messengers play in the ancient world. Composed by Sophocles around 468 B.C., Oedipus Rex investigates the limits of free will and the overall power of fate through the doomed journey of proud Oedipus. The messengers in Oedipus Rex serve as nexuses between fate and Oedipus, delivering writs to trigger Oedipus' destiny. Employing the role of the messenger as a conduit, Sophocles explores Oedipus' limited free will under the confines of fate through the appearances of the de facto messenger at the banquet, the Corinthian messenger, and the palace messenger.

Oedipus' encounter with the de facto messenger at a banquet acts a catalyst to his decision to seek the truth, beginning his journey on fate's chosen path. In a conversation with Jocasta, Oedipus quickly summarizes his exchange with the de facto messenger, "A man at the banquet table, who had had too much to drink, told me, over his wine, that I was not the true son of my father" (Oedipus Rex 55). With this dreadful news, Oedipus desperately seeks the truth, only to discover an appalling destiny. Based on the newly acquired knowledge, Oedipus chooses to flee his home to evade his fate to sleep with his mother and slay his father. Self-confident and adroit, Oedipus believes he possesses the not only the power to direct his own destiny, but also has the skill to thwart fate. Although Oedipus concedes his frailty in the face of the gods' the edicts, he attempts to elude his fate; Oedipus still believes that he possesses more power than the gods and can outrun their declaration of his destiny. The de facto messenger, as fate's envoy, provokes Oedipus to choose to behave exactly as fate desires. It is Oedipus' rash application of his free will that affords fate further authority over him. Even if Oedipus had considered his own advice, "Until something happened to me quite by chance, a strange thing, but not worth all the attention I paid it," and either ignored or confronted his fate, he could not have triumphed over his dreadful future (55). Ultimately in this Greek play, fate eclipses free will, allowing a person to run every which way and yet arrive at the same destination. While the de facto messenger lacks the proper trappings of a commissionaire, he still serves his purpose and like the Corinthian messenger provokes action with delivery of ambiguous information to unlucky Oedipus.

Oedipus' encounter with the Corinthian messenger also highlights how free will eventually bows to the inclusive reign of fate. Though the Corinthian messenger plays only a minor role in the theatrical production, it is an exceedingly pivotal part. In his own words, "my message will bring you joy - no doubt of that - but sorrow, too," the messenger utters a statement saturated with dramatic irony (63). Unbeknownst to him, the messenger reveals a horrid truth to Oedipus and leads him to the final doomed discovery. With his words, "Because he was no more your father, than I am," he unveils the truth about Oedipus' adoptive parents and eventually his origins from the city of Thebes (72). In these intense scenes, Sophocles exposes the subordinate nature of free will. While previously Oedipus' free will led him scampering away from fate, now it leads him to a head on collision with his destiny. Though Jocasta, both mother and wife, frantically attempts to convince Oedipus to relinquish his search, rash Oedipus disregards her sound advice. "In God's name, if you place any value on your life, don't pursue the search," Jocasta beseeches Oedipus, but under the confines of fate, Oedipus ignores the woman whose words he