New York City, February 18, 2014
A King, a Tragedy, a Destiny, Oedipus!
Sophocles' play, "Oedipus, the King,” is based on the old Greek legends about Oedipus and his family. The classical tragedy by Sophocles is set in the ancient city of Thebes. Oedipus, the protagonist, is a character ruled by fate and conflict. Oedipus is destined to kill his father and marry his own mother. Oedipus the man is a a victim of his fate. He is a character who has violated certain divine or human laws and must be punished and expelled from society. This play also deals with other issues such as pain, total abandonment, human misery, sacrifice misery and death. The main factor is the tragedy of fate. The tragic dimension lies in the impossibility that the hero can succeed or overcome his fate by confronting divine omnipotence.
In ancient Greece, the dramatic art were born with representations of myths in stories and songs. The drama begins with the choirs singing hymns in honor of the gods. The play is poetry in verse. The art of tragedy was dominated by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Until then the dramatic plays were monologues. However, Aeschylus introduced a second character and Sophocles, Aeschylus's great rival, introduced a third character and reduced the role of the chorus. The action of his plays were much more intense and dramatic because the representation of tragedy in the theater, sought to show that the tragic heroes are above the human.
Sophocles, the prestigious playwright gave added luster to Greek tragedies. From Sophocles huge literary fragments have been preserved and today seven tragedies survive. These works include " Oedipus Rex," "Antigone," "Ajax," "Trachiniae," "Philoctetes," "Oedipus at Colonus" and "Electra." Sophocles' life matches the splendor of democracy.
In Greek tragedies usually powerful a tyrant, and his city and citizens fall in disgrace and destruction. Themes of freedom, equal rights, and poetry vision of a people to be well governed are also discussed. In tragedies the audience admires the hero. In addition. It is a struggle between the politically powerful and the gods. The choir is part of the tragedy, these are made up of those trying to reason with those who do not want to see, such as Oedipus.
In the play “Oedipus Rex,” Thebes is being ravaged by a plague, "The god of plague and pyre raid like detestable lightning through the city" (Sophocles, Prologue, 708). The oracle reports that misfortune will not cease until the murder of King Laius, would not be punished. The pests are destroying the kingdom of Oedipus. Therefore, as his government is reeling, Oedipus orders an investigation without knowing that it will discover that he was the one who killed his father, and has been married to his mother.
Through the literary work " Oedipus Rex," we realize that King Laius needed the help of oracles and gods to make decisions. Oedipus does not know who he is, but when he is exiled, he acknowledges his ignorance and that's when he begins to see, even though he is blind, becoming a wanderer, a traveler through the world. Oedipus wasted his life without being able to identify his mistakes and every day was further from the truth.
Not everyone is able to make decisions. Therefore, hear and do things without considering that words have immense power, because they can manipulate and distort ones’s inclinations. Language traps are endless, and can poison, and confuse others reach beyond, so managing to persuade the uninformed public opinion is sometimes dangerous.
The humanity problems sometimes happen when people get stuck the traps of language. The Ancients were societies where everything was left to fate. That is, other forces were responsible for creating a man’s destiny. The problem is that people end up saying to act so sometimes yes, sometimes not, I mean answering what others tell to answer, without actually being an own position, as soldiers that only obey orders. There is not responsibility, therefore, a wrong will not be a fault, but the fault of the other, could act and think with the thoughts of others.
Some even fall into the laziness of thinking for himself and engaged to obey. They can never make decisions. You must believe in yourself in the freedom we have as human beings to discern, comment, agree or against. In “Oedipus Rex,” the Sophocles’ work ensures that everyone has the power to make his own destiny. We are not condemned to believe in any destination, everything depends determine on the type of life one chooses to lead. People must be themselves, to learn to think, so that others do not steal their thoughts and repeat it so wrong.
In the play “Oedipus Rex,” Sophocles says that Oedipus had the option of fate, but his blindness to see the truth, it did not allow him to make good decisions. Many people like Oedipus sometimes do not know who they are, who their real parents, or where they came from. They do not investigate, and do not know their story. Even worse is mental blindness which does not allow to look at the destination.
Oedipus’ drama reveals what lies behind appearances, and it helps to know who one really is. Oedipus reaches the maximum of his mandate, but later, Sophocles mades him lose all his greatness, making him a fragile and unhappy man, throwing him into misery after misery requiring enormous endurance. Therefore, Avinash Mohail’s article, “Oedipus Rex: Role of Destiny,” says, "Due to destiny alone Oedipus, a man of repute and fame was reduced to a life of abject, shame and humiliation” (Abstract,1). Then, “Oedipus” is a drama that moves the consciousness of the viewer to see the realism of the protagonist when he tries to escape his own destiny.
Tragic actors in ancient Greece, acting grandly, and converged through emotions to an audience that already knew the general argument, the myths. It was not a surprise to people, to find out that Oedipus had killed his father and married his mother. People already knew as a shared knowledge. The art of the playwright Sophocles was to find the right words to show suffering despite restrictions, so that people feel horror when Oedipus blinds himself and they feel pity for him.
Oedipus is a character who suffers from blindness. He had been able to leave this life of darkness, perhaps he could have achieved a transformation in his life. However, he does not realize that he has always lived in darkness, for his arrogance does not allow him to see it. Today, some people continue living in the dark, and have not developed serious commitment to uncover the truth with their own eyes. Therefore, some will live in ignorance, tricked, and convinced that they are living truths, and many of them even believe they feel happy and live fully.
Oedipus killed his father and married Iocasta, his mother, not knowing the kinship that existed between the two. It affected the spectators as a great horror, and the minds of the audience made their own judgment as that act occurred. Incest is forbidden in the eyes of society and of God, and when it happens, the looming consequences result in tragedy for the perpetrator and his family.
Oedipus has killed his father and married Jocasta, his mother, not knowing the relationship that existed between the two, have committed incest. It could affect the modesty of the spectators, so that the mind of the audience make their own judgment of the act occurred. Incest is forbidden in the eyes of society and of God, and when this happens, the consequences looming end in tragedy for the author and his family.
The abandonment of Oedipus when he was a child, is an indicator that not much has changed. The misery of being banished teaches a lesson, that man is victim of his own blindness in the world. It should also be mentioned that incest occurred before the Greek tragedy. Adam and Eve were the first to commit it. Ancient egyptian pharaohs had embedded relationships between brothers and sisters, or with parents. Some of these relationships became known, so incest is in human genes.
In Greek tragedy, Sophocles produces catharsis through compassion for his victim, causing terror for the consequences of the mistakes, making audience feel compassion for a being who does not deserve his misfortune. Sophocles’ Oedipus shows us a tremendous suffering for his misfortunes without having intentionally caused them he is the victim of a mistake. Therefore, although the errors he had the opportunity to see the truth and not make mistakes, but according to the gods could not avoid his destiny. Sophocles’ Oedipus succeeds in get the effects of catharsis through two internal experiences emotions: horror and pity.
Oedipus becomes the hero himself, as he starts his journey towards the truth but, as a result, it brings hurt. However, to better understand who Oedipus is, Charles R. Walker tells us that, “Oedipus is an activist, but no an extrovert. His struggle for self-knowledge-and mastery over his fears-is his passion and his destiny. One of his traits isn't common among us-to seek the truth at all cost-but the greatest scientists have taught us to admire such fortitude” (101). Oedipus is a character with a strong personality, intelligent and goodhearted, noble, and eager to govern his people properly. He is confident. However, that boldness and wisdom prevent him from seeing what could have changed the fate predicted that the Greek gods, leading to a path to his tragic mistake.
Greek tragedies were produced about 2.500 years ago in ancient Greece. However, currently, the subject of incest has an impact on the viewers and readers of “Oedipus Rex.” This play has not only about incest, but can also be seen the power struggle, and values such as strength, courage, and loyalty. In this play, Sophocles shows us all the damage that results in a tragedy, producing devastating deaths among the people, as a consequence of the plague.
Since ancient times, people either believed in many gods or one man is designated for a specific purpose and even though he cannot dodge this is true. Therefore, it was for Oedipus listen to the oracle. In the article, "Genetic Testing Creates new versions of Ancient," where Robert Klitzman writes, "These dilemmas bring to mind the ancient Greek belief that three Fates measured out the length of each human life, and that oracles foretold the future. But the predictions of the oracles were rarely either simple, or what was sought. Misinterpretation was always a danger" (2). Sophocles wrote a play that was able to impact on the minds of viwers and readers, showing them the consequences of their mistakes or sins, which ultimately makes them punish theirselves, as Oedipus did with his eyes, and everything follows the commands of the oracle.
Without detracting from the excellent work of the director of the film version of "Oedipus Rex,” directed by Tyrone Guthrie, and released in 1957, some people could rather choose Sophocles' masterpiece in its original context, as in the fifth century in Athens keynote tragedies occurred in theater. One cannot applaud Oedipus’ errors, but can exalt his courage not to choose suicide. Thus, Oedipus is a model human being, a man, who pays for his faults.
Finally, “Oedipus Rex” is a work of great psychological complexity, which conveys moral lessons and ethics, teaching us that failures of virtue and the standards set by the gods or by men prevent happiness and, therefore, implies punishment. Understanding the moral teachings of the Greek myths, in which man is a wreck at the whim of the decisions of the gods, is difficult to understand. The gods determined the Oedipus’ fate, apparently to force him to make free decisions but basically to remote control and make him feel guilty. Really, if everyone was true master of his own destiny, people would have the power to change the world, capture joy, dominate the world of intellectual curiosity and control them lives.
Oedipus helps one discover the path to see the truth, out of blindness. However, no one wants to become an Oedipus who violates the divine or human laws and then be punished and expelled from society. No one wants to be judged by a chorus or an oracle which will decide his fate. One’s destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. Future depends on what people do. The desire to improve the world can achieve a harmonious balance between what is given and what is received from the society and be the destination’s owner.
Works Cited
Gardner, Janet E., Beverly Lawn, Ridl Jack, and Schakel Peter eds. Literature: A Portable Anthology. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2013. Print.
Klitzman, Robert. “Genetic Testing Creates New Versions of Ancient Dilemmas.” The New York Times 17 Jan. 2006, late ed.: F1. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Moharil, Avinash. "Oedipus Rex: Role Of Destiny." Indian Streams Research Journal2.1 (2012): 31-32. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Oedipus Rex. Dir. Tyrone Guthrie. Perf. Douglas Campbell, Eleanor Stuart, and Robert Goodier. Motion Picture Distributors, 1957. DVD.
Sophocles “Oedipus Rex.” Trans. Dudley Fitst and Robert Fitzgerald. Gardners, et. Al, eds.
Walker, Charles R. “Oedipus Endures the Test of Time.” Readings on Sophocles. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 100-102. 1997. Print
