New York City, February 13, 2014
Oedipus Tyrannus
Sophocles is one of the three great Greek dramatists of ancient Athens. He wrote "Oedipus Tyrannus," a play that was performed in ancient Greece in 468 BC. Sophocles wrote the tragedy where in Laius and Iokaste, king and queen of Thebes, discovered through an oracle that their son Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Then, Laius ordered a slave to kill the newborn on Mount Cithaeron. The servant did not kill him. He abandoned child, which he gave to another shepherd, one from Corinth who delivered the infant to Polybus and Merope king and queen of the city. They rise and educated him like a son.
One day Oedipus heard the same story as Laius from the oracle of Apollo, a horrible prediction and he leave Corinth. During his journey, he met Laius accompanied by some guards. Between the two a fight arose. Oedipus killed King Laius and his escorts. When he arrived at Thebes, he killed the Sphinx and got Iokaste’s hand in marriage. Later, Oedipus questions the blind seer Tiresias, who confirms the tragic truth. Then, he realizes he had married his mother, which is just what had been prophesized. Oedipus says, “Ah God! It was true! All the prophecies!” (“Ode 4,” lines 68-70). Iokaste commits suicide by hanging herself in the palace. Oedipus stabs his eyes, going blind and roams the world despised by the people. Oedipus punishes himself, feeling wretched to discover that he is guilty for the misery he caused his people and his family. Oedipus deserves eternal punishment as he will have to walk through the world with guilt in his heart.
The Greeks wrote tragedies convinced that man was at the mercy of the gods. However, there are other views. A man can solve his own problems, without being at the mercy of anyone else. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were great writers of tragedies in ancient Athens. They were inspired to tell the history of the gods, demigods, heroes, and the wonderful culture of Athens. The plays were produced in Greek theaters now called amphitheaters, which were built in a fan shape. The stage was circular and buildings in the rear were places store costumes and accessories. Here is the place where the characters probably changed masks.
According to the definition of “tragedy,” it means “A serious play that end sadly, usual with the dead of the main character, or this style of writing: Shakespeare’s tragedies”(Longman,def.1). Sophocles made changes to the form of Greek tragedy, adding a third actor and bringing to fifteen the number of members of the choir, which until then had only twelve members. Sophocles is suppose to have written approximately 120 literary works, although today only seven of them are known: “Ajax,” “Antigone,” “Electra,” “Oedipus at Colonus,” “Oedipus the King”, “Philoctetes,” and Trachiniae.” These Greek tragedies by Sophocles are classics and true reflections of human character.
Sophocles is considered the true master of tragic irony because after he reached the pinnacle of his fame, Oedipus falls into the most miserable of moral disgraces. The height of the irony in “Oedipus” is that he seems to live only to discover the truth. He is the last one to become aware of the great truth that everyone already knows. Oedipus is the murderer of his father, his mother's lover, and is both father and brother to his sons and daughters, and son and husband of his mother. Oedipus knows the truth about this incestuous relationship, a taboo, that he does not want to see. Then, finally he will have to wear a mask of guilt to cover the shame from which he has no way to recover.
Sophocles’ purpose in the play "Oedipus Rex" is to suggest that the nature of the god's justice, in this case Apollo’s, has determined that humans are mere instruments of the gods, without being able to evade the divine plan, or their the inevitable fate. The gods in ancient Greek culture were all-powerful and immortal, but with the properties of mortal passions.
According to Sophocles, Oedipus is a magnanimous, wise, and just king, a victim of a curse from an oracle. Viewers come to identify with the character and see an honest and noble man. Viewers feel compassion, but, when the truth is revealed, Oedipus falls and will spend his future in misery and feeling the contempt of his people. The Choragos expresses terror and fear at the time that Oedipus stabs out his eyes. “Dreadfull indeed for men to see. Never have my own eyes looked no a sight so full of fear“ (“Exodos,”lines 72-74).
This tragedy is so touching that no character provides as much hurt as Oedipus, nevertheless, this does not save him from being judged guilty for committing immoral acts, violating social and family norms. He knows he will not have a chance to correct his mistakes. Oedipus may not forgive himself, and knows he will not have the god's or mortals’ forgiveness. Life in society or in human relationships is marked by a desire to maintain a dark side in order to live together. Today, we have no oracle to tell us what our fates will be, nor to tell us who we are, and where we have come from, but if a person investigates as did Oedipus, maybe he can discover some truths that everyone else knows. If I had been in a Greek theater as a spectator seeing the Greek tragedy, about 2,500 years ago, my final verdict would have been to declare Oedipus thrice miserable and guilty!
Works Cited
Gardner, Janet E., Beverly Lawn, Ridl Jack, and Peter Schakel, eds. Literature: A Portable Anthology. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2013. Print.
Longman Dictionary of American English. 2nd ed. White Plains: Pesrson
Education. 2000. Print.
