Eng. Lit- Oedipus

What makes a good ruler, a leader for their country? Is strength and a portrayal of protection all that matters, or is a good, capable ruler entitled to a few flaws and mistakes? If there were a situation where people were given the choice to vote for Oedipus or not as a leader for a country, I would vote against him. While he does in fact possess the skills and traits that would be well-suited in ruling a country, he has encountered many misfortunes and has shown some negative qualities that could cause people to overlook him and vote for another.

In looking for a good choice in leaders, many would want someone who has a love and devotion toward the people as their main concern, someone who shows a clear, genuine interest in what is best for their people and country. Oedipus is someone who shows this trait. In Sophicles’ Oedipus the King, the people of Thebes were coming to Oedipus for help from a terrible plague, Oedipus showed concern and sadness:

Poor children! You may be sure I know all that you longed for in your coming

here. I know that you are deathly sick: and yet, sick as you are, not one is as I.

Each of you suffers in himself alone his anguish, not another’s; but my spirit

groans for the city, for myself, for you.

(Prologue, ll. 60-67)

He also is someone who does not leave his people in the dark. At the return of his brother-in-law’s visit to an oracle to find out what can be done to get rid of the plague, he wanted everyone present to listen to the news, “Let them all hear it. It is for them I suffer, more than for myself” (Sophicles Prologue, ll. 95-96). I feel that this is impressive in him due to the fact that many leaders hear news and will then make decisions without informing the country’s people, which could lead to the people, not the leader, paying the price for his decisions and actions, and in the end suffer. In a way Oedipus gives the people a chance to play their part in helping anyway that they can, by trying to find or get information on the ones involved in the death of the previous king, Laios.

There are leaders who makes mistakes and does wrong things without owning up to them or even acknowledging that they did anything they shouldn’t have done. People want someone who can admit to their wrongdoings, and hopefully do what they can to make things right. After Oedipus unknowingly condemns himself publicly, after time he realizes what he’s done and sets outs to exile himself. He does not try to get out of his punishment in any way, “This punishment that I have laid upon myself is just,” (Sophicles Exodos, ll. 140-1). He appears ready to face the consequences of his actions, and it seems as though he is committed to banishing himself to help his people who have been suffering at his hands:

If only I had died, this weight of monstrous doom,

Could not have dragged me and my darlings down.

(Exodos, ll. 128-30)

He also appears to exile himself to try and prevent the world from knowing the extent of his cursed, unfortunate end:

After exposing the rankness of my own guilt, how could I look men frankly

in the eyes?

No, for the love of God, conceal me somewhere far from Thebes; or kill me;

or hurl me

Into the sea, away from men’s eyes for ever.

(Exodos, ll. 156-57; 182-84)

When looking at these examples, it could be clear to many that Oedipus would be a fine choice as leader. However, as previously mentioned, his negative traits could otherwise prove to show his inability to rule any land.

Something I personally would find worrisome is a leader who is judgmental, which is what Oedipus has displayed at times. Someone would not be a proper