In Sophocles's play, Oedipus the King, a terrible fate befalls King Oedipus--he kills his father and marries his mother. However, he commits each of these crimes without truly knowing what he is doing. When he kills his father, Oedipus thinks he has merely killed a few random travelers, and when he marries Jocasta, Oedipus has no idea that she is his mother. Over the course of the play, Oedipus discovers these horrors and is mortified. Several characters in the play contribute information that allows Oedipus to piece together the puzzle that is his misfortune, but many of them attempt to shield Oedipus from the terrible truth. Oedipus still begs them to reveal their secrets because he is determined to solve the mystery which has brought a plague upon his people. Although Oedipus may appear to be a proud and selfish character, as the play progresses, we see that he comes to terms with his terrible fate in order to redeem the people of Thebes so that they no longer share in his suffering.
When Creon first tells Oedipus that the man who killed Laos must be exiled in order for the people of Thebes to be saved, Oedipus calls on the seer Tiresias to reveal the true threat to the kingdom. Although Tiresias refuses several times to tell Oedipus the truth, he ultimately points to Oedipus as the ruin of Thebes. Oedipus is shocked and denounces Tiresias as a fool but then spends the rest of the play trying to determine what, if any, truth there is to Tiresias's claims.
At first, Oedipus's motive is merely to prove Tiresias wrong; however, once he speaks to Jocasta and learns more about Laos's death, he begins to entertain the unpleasant idea that Tiresias might be correct. He sends for the only man who survived the journey on which Laos met his death--a shepherd who no longer lives in Thebes. Before the shepherd arrives, a messenger brings word to Oedipus of his "father's" death. However the messenger also informs Oedipus that the King of Corinth, whom Oedipus believes to be his father, is in fact not related to Oedipus at all. Once the shepherd arrives, he begs that Oedipus not ask the truth of him, but Oedipus is so set on solving this mystery, even though it will certainly only lead to his own doom, that he demands the truth. The shepherd confirms that Oedipus is indeed the son of Laos and has married his mother and killed his own father.
In a fit of rage at his own misfortune and at Jocasta’s suicide, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and succumbs to his miserable fate. It is then that he commits his most selfless act: he chooses to go into exile himself so that the people of Thebes will no longer suffer from the plague. Although Oedipus is introduced to us as a haughty, proud ruler who thinks he can defy fate and the gods, by the end of the play, he is reduced to a humble, unhappy man who leaves the life and people who once but no longer revere him so that they may lead a better life. (WC 530)
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7 comments:
Ally-
I think you do a really good job of putting Oedipus's life into perspective. What I like even more is that you say that Oedipus ultimately redeems himself by inflicting self-punishment. I agree that what he does at the end of the story is a sort of penance, and the reader begins to look at this haughty king in a new light.
Good post!
Manasi
Ally Resnik--
You have written a nice blog which examines Oedipus's actions in the novel. You claim that he was selfish in the beginning of the novel, but I think that what he tried to do was altruistic in that he left his family (or at least what he thought was his family) in order to prevent himself from killing is own dad and marrying his mum. He does show a bit of a temper in middle of the play, though as you correctly noted he redeems in the end of the story by exiling himself in order to save his adopted people. I can sort of excuse his temper though because the accusations put against him seemed highly sensationalist, and he truly believed he had not committed any error. Plus I felt that in order for this play to be a tragedy he would have to go from a high to low and not from a low to a high as you seem to suggest. Nevertheless you make some great points, and the point of blogging is to share our opinions.
Navdeep
You give an excellent outline of the play that focuses on Oedipus's transformation from a proud ruler into a humbled sufferer. I especially liked your comment on how Oedipus's self gouging not only eases his pain but also the pain of his people.
- J LO
Ally,
You really hit the nail on the head (wow I hate that expression) when it came to the fundamental characteristics of tragedy that are apparent in the play: Oedipus's transformation from a high point to a low point, from king to exile.
However, like Ivan Ilych, Oedipus seems to go from a moral low (arrogance) to a moral high (humility). Though I guess by Greek standards "powerful king" was considered to be higher than "blind exile." Go figure.
Great job!
Lauren
I like our overall analysis of Oedipus's actions. You showed how a man who has committed terrible atrocities can still redeem himself. Nice job.
Dear Ally Karen Resnik,
Great blog. I love how you so beautifully analyze Oedipus and his actions. I have to say that I don't believe that Oedipus ever needs to "redeem" himself, because anger itself is sometimes justifiable. I also like the symbolism that you find in the play. Good game.
Sincerely,
Aravind Swaminathan
Ally--you said, "he comes to terms with his terrible fate in order to redeem the people of Thebes so that they no longer share in his suffering." I like that way of looking at the play. Because Oedipus' actions work on two levels, public and private, he can be redeemed on one level while suffering a horrible fate on the other.
So, in the end, as you say, "he is reduced to a humble, unhappy man who leaves the life and people who once but no longer revere him so that they may lead a better life." By keeping his focus on the good his knoweldge can do others, he retains our admiration and sympathy.
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