Oedipus

Title: Oedipus

Analysis of the play

This tragic play resides in the impeccable works of Sophocles who develops an interesting plot, brandishing an aspect of immorality. It brings the audience to the realization of King Oedipus’ folly intertwined with a series of life’s coincidences. Although unconscious of the effects of his acts on the turn out of prior event’s, king Oedipus is intrigued by the loophole that bars him from knowing the truth about his father’s death and is eager to unveil the mystery. Little does he know that it is at his own peril. Regrettably, he cannot reverse the hands of time. King Oedipus exiles himself from Corinth following oracle’s dictation. The play begins with an alert from Thebes concerning a plague that has befallen it. It then revolves around a cloud of confusion and contradiction since king Oedipus happens to have killed his real father, king  Laius, unknowingly at a place where “three roads meet” as noted in the play and he ends up fathering four children with his biological mother. This is undoubtedly incest, though the king is not guilty of the immoral deed per se but is somewhat ignorant enough to be entangled in such a predicament. He crosses the line when he curses his father’s murderer who, in the real sense, is none other than him. Might be that he brought to himself the absurd inevitability since he curses himself unknowingly when he rebukes his father’s murderer. He does not get a hunch of the clues at his premise. He is informed that his father was killed in old age just as old as the old man he murdered on his way to Thebes. The exact point he terminated the old man’s life is identical to the place his father was killed. Despite this, he still clings to some doubt and disregards the oracle and the seer’s message, which could have sufficiently fed his curiosity. The play, therefore, creates a slot of paradox whereby king Oedipus has evidence to see but is still blind. His misfortunes force him to leave, “exiled by his own decree” (p. 52) and his wife cum mother, Jocasta, upon realizing the truth, takes away her own life in the end. The two appear to have been commanding destiny despite the fact that it had power over them. Their ignorance takes its toll on both of them. The series of events in the play as it commences have the audience anxious as the truth gradually unravels.

Oedipus’ actions

Free will dictates independent decision-making. Oedipus makes a decision to defy the supernatural beings that present his life and he faces the punishment of doing this. The accounts reflecting the destroyed life of king Oedipus provide an analytical basis for the audience to determine the major reasons behind the bizarre outcomes of events. Sophocles communicates the setbacks attached to the choices people make. Therefore, there is a scope for arguing whether Oedipus’ actions are free will or fate.

Free will

King Oedipus is developed in the play as a man who barely knows his origin and biological parents. It is also clear that he “suffers” a memory lapse when he is unable to recall the incident adequately at the confluence of roads where he kills an old man. Coincidentally, through the turn out of events, the old man happens to be the real father, king Laius. The entire spoken evidence is right in front of his eyes, but he is chooses not to see it. The prophet, Teiresias, refers to the king as man with sight but cannot see. Oedipus is unable to come out of his cocoon to be finally enlightened with details of his life. He does not want to believe what the prophet tells him. Both the oracle and the prophet foretell that Oedipus will get rid of his father and get married his mother. He ignores such implications and is even disgusted by the thought. He is brought out as one running away from his own responsibility and destiny. King Oedipus is ignorant and not cautious enough to speculate about his life. A factor presents a bleak future for him. He is obviously on a precarious situation because of his own doing. The idea of marrying his own mother, Jocasta, raises a major question; why did he marry an elderly woman who is just the age of his mother. On logical grounds, it would have paid off if he did some investigation. Nevertheless, he clearly has no time for the past which comes back to ruin his present. Presumably, he knows of the risk. All his actions follow his uninformed choices he makes out of taking the relevant clues for granted. He gorges out his eyes and exiles himself when everything clearly dawns on him. His idea of gorging out his eyes might be because he bitterly regrets his metaphoric blindness earlier in the play. Tierias’ prophecy is also fulfilled at this point. The irony is that he becomes blind when he finally sees the truth. However, Oedipus is not entirely responsible for his actions.

Fate

Fate refers to the natural source that determines the outcome of events. In Oedipus rex, inevitable actions unfold. The tragic life story of king Oedipus could also have been ordained by fate. Thebes faces a threat of destruction if the culprit to king Liaus murder does not come forth. Oedipus’ actions are prophesied earlier in the play and are expected to take place later as the climax is approached. His parents ordered him to be killed after finding out from the oracle that he is to kill his father and marry his mother. Fate manifests itself as he resists death and is still alive, contrary to the order and emerges a king as his birth father.  Oedipus does not know his real parents and finding out the truth about them at his age might have taken its toll on him considering the emotional impact. He attempts to change the course of his life, but it is futile. It can be assumed that the actions he takes are meant to happen in the end since it is already prophesied by the seer. He does not decide to kill his father, but it happens out of mere coincidence just as any other person would drive along that road. He is on his own mission, which is leaving Corinth to go back to Thebes. The oracle appears to be the main determinant of fate, followed by Tiresias’ prophecy. It caused Oedipus’ send off to Corinth where he became prince, his encounter with the oracle again, his journey back to Thebes, the accident of killing his father and the result of fathering four children with his mother. The plague in Thebes is also aligned with fate since the reason behind it was the unawareness of the demise of their former king, Liaus, killed by Oedipus himself. Towards the end of the play, Oedipus curses himself and fate, which indicates the weight of fate as a theme in the play. Everything that was earlier predetermined has happened.

Conclusion

Therefore, question in Oedipus Rex over whether Oedipus’s actions are determined by fate, or free will is significant. Both aspects are usable in understanding of complex outcome. If it was not for fate, king Oedipus’ parents would not have had it in their mind to kill their own son in the first place and prior to that, the oracle could not have foretold what Oedipus would have done. The idea of fate through the play is more solid than freewill since fate is the genesis of sequence of events that spring out. Oedipus actions might have triggered the consequences he is facing. In as much as Oedipus possesses a degree of pride that makes him appear as ignorant, it would be unfair to blame him for his actions; he simply comes out as puppet led by fate in the tragedy.

 

 

 

Work cited

Sophocles and Paul Roche. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. New York: New American Library, 1958. Print

Gillespie, Sheena, Tony Pipolo, and Terezinha Fonseca. Literature Across Cultures. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print.

Sophocles,, and R D. Dawe. Oedipus Rex. Stutgardiae: B.G. Teubner, 1996. Print.

Sophocles, , and Theodore H. Banks. Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956. Print.

 

 

 

 

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