Oedipus

The Rise and Falls of Oedipus Rex

The Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles (496-406 B.C.), adheres to Aristotles (384-322 B.C.) definition of a tragedy. The first criterion of a Greek tragedy is that the protagonist be a good person; doubly blessed with a good heart and noble intention. Sophocles reveals immediately at the start of the play that Oedipus is such a man. As is common in the Greek tragedy Oedipus is also an aristocrat. Born of the King and Queen of Thebes he is of true nobility. Oedipus on the other-hand believes his parents are the King and Queen of Corinth. Oedipus was abandoned as a baby and adopted by them. Because that information is known to the audience, and not to Oedipus prior to the start of the play, it is a perfect example of tragic irony because when he declares that he will find the murderer he is the man that he pursues. Here he is told by Tiresias," I say you are the murderer you hunt" (1235). The theme of Oedipus the King is not clear-cut. The theme in this tragic play seems to be you can't escape your fate.

Contentment leads to ignorance as Oedipus lends fate a hand in his bitter end. This trait is touched-on in these lines spoken by Creon. "Look at you, sullen in yielding, brutal in your rage- you'll go too far. It's perfect justice: natures like yours are hardest on themselves"(Sophocles 1242-1243). Oedipus is a true hero in the Greek tragedy. He has the fate of the community in his hands along with the noble character to take care of it himself. He announces his convictions to take this problem into his own hands and to do whatever is necessary to lift the curse. Oedipus addresses the priests assembled before him, " You can trust me; I am ready to help, I'll do anything (Sophocles 1225). The city has this faith in him, and the priest come to tell him so he will help them lift the curse. "Now we pray to you. You cannot equal the gods, your children know that...But we do rate you first of men,"(1226). He also appears to have Apollo's ear, which makes him seem all-powerful to the audience; this is another standard of the classic Greek tragedy.

Following Aristotle's qualifications of the tragic hero Oedipus does have a tragic flaw as is found as a standard in the Greek tragedy. Oedipus has a character flaw that brings about his end. Although it cannot be summed-up in one word there is evidence that his flaw may be ignorance or blindness to his own fate. This ignorance unearths a pride that is revealed though out the play. As when Oedipus tells the chorus/city' "You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers" (1231). Oedipus is too content with himself and his life to see his end coming so soon. He throws caution to the wind when he kills a man who is old enough to be his father. This was done shortly after he had gone to see Apollo."-and the god Apollo spurned me, sent me away denied the facts I came for, but first he flashed before my eyes a future great with pain, terror, disaster-I can hear him cry,' You are fated to couple with your mother...you will kill your father, the one who gave you life" (1246)! Oedipus goes to great lengths to keep his fate from being played-out. He thinks running away will always stop his role in things to come. And in his marriage to an older woman, he seems to tempt fate by not questioning his choice, when he knows there were doubts about his being a true blood relation to his parents. This is revealed to the audience when Oedipus says, "Some man at a banquet who had drunk too much shouted out-he was far gone mind you-that I am not my father's son" (1245). There are many choices he makes that can only be accredited to his blind faith in himself. Which is displayed in a blindness that is transmitted throughout.

Oedipus refuses to believe Tiresias because he is a blind man and he tells him, "You've lost your power, stone-blind, stone-deaf--senses, eyes blind as stone!'-'this fortune-teller peddling lies, eyes peeled for his own profit-seer blind in his craft!"(1235). But Tiresias not only foretells Oedipus' fate but also predicts his physical blindness when he tells him, "I pity you, flinging at me the very insults each man here will fling at you so soon' ... 'This day will bring your birth and your destruction"(1235-1236). Even though Oedipus is told time and again about what will come or occur. His unremitting blindness keeps him from seeing the whole truth and allows him to live a contented life as king. The revelation in this play comes shortly after Oedipus' wife tells him, "The heralds no sooner reported Laius dead than you appeared and they hailed you king of Thebes" (1244). His response to this news tells volumes, "I think I've just called down a dreadful curse upon myself--I simply didn't know" (1244). He then refers to Tiresias' vision dualistically, " I have a terrible fear the blind seer can see" (1244). After Jocasta's late-breaking news, Oedipus recounts the essentials of when he killed a man at a triple crossroad because the story correlates to the murder of Laius. He then begins to feel Apollo's hand in this. "Wasn't I born for torment? Look me in the eyes' ... 'Wouldn't a man of judgment say ... some savage power has brought this down upon my head" (1246). The reversal in this play comes