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Oedipus the King

Antigone Leads Oedipus out of Thebes by Charles Francois Jalabert
Written by Sophocles
Chorus Theban Elders
Characters Oedipus
Priest of Apollo
Creon
Tiresias
Jocasta
Messenger from Corinth
Herdsman of Laius
Setting Before the Palace of Oedipus in Thebes
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Oedipus the King (Greek Oἰδίπoυς τύραννoς, ([Oedipus Tyrannus] (help·info)) or "Oedipus the Tyrant"), also known as Oedipus Rex, is a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles and first performed circa 429 BC. Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed" Creon ( Attic Greek: Κρέων - Kreōn, meaning "ruler" is the name of two mythological Greek kings a mythological son of Everes redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Everes (genus. In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste (Iοκαστη or Epikastê was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Greek literature refers to those writings autochthonic to the areas of Greek influence typically though not necessarily in one of the Greek dialects throughout the Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa Events By place Greece The Athenians under Xenophon march into Thrace to attack Chalcis. [1] It was the second of Sophocles' three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. The three Theban Plays, or the Oedipus cycle written by Greek dramatist Sophocles in the 5th century BCE, are those of his surviving works which follow Oedipus at Colonus (also Oedipus Coloneus, and in Greek Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ Oidipous epi Kolōnō) is one of the Over the centuries, it has come to be regarded by many as the Greek tragedy par excellence. [2]

Contents

Plot

See also: Oedipus

Much of the myth of Oedipus takes place before the opening scene of the play. Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed" Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed" The protagonist of the tragedy is the son of King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste (Iοκαστη or Epikastê was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides After Laius learns from an oracle that "he is doomed/To perish by the hand of his own son," he binds tightly together with a pin the feet of the infant Oedipus and delivers him to a servant with orders to kill him. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature Instead, the baby is found and rescued by a shepherd, who names him Oedipus (or "swollen foot"). A shepherd is a person who tends to feeds or guards Sheep, especially in flocks Intending to raise the baby himself, but not possessed of the means to do so, the shepherd gives it to a fellow shepherd from a distant land, who spends the summers sharing pastureland with his flocks. The second shepherd carries the baby with him to Corinth, where Oedipus is taken in and raised in the court of the childless King Polybus of Corinth as if he were his own. Corinth, or Korinth ( Greek Κόρινθος ( is a city in Greece.

As a young man in Corinth, Oedipus hears a rumour that he is not the biological son of Polybus and his wife Merope. When Oedipus sounds them out on this, they deny it, but, still suspicious, he asks the Delphic Oracle whom his parents really are. PYTHIA is a computer simulation program for particle collisions at very high energies (see Event (particle physics) in Particle accelerators The Oracle seems to ignore this question, telling him instead that he is destined to "Mate with [his] own mother, and shed/With [his] own hands the blood of [his] own sire. " Oedipus leaves Corinth in the belief that Polybus and Merope are indeed his true parents.

On the road to Thebes, he meets Laius, his true father. Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides Unconscious of one another's identities, they argue over which wagon has right-of-way. Oedipus's pride leads him to murder Laius, fulfilling part of the oracle's prophecy. Shortly after, he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, which has baffled many a diviner: "What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?"

To this Oedipus replies, "Man", and the distraught Sphinx throws herself off the side of the wall. A riddle is a Statement or Question having a double or veiled meaning put forth as a Puzzle to be solved A Sphinx is a Zoomorphic mythological figure which is depicted as a recumbent lion with a human head Oedipus's reward for freeing the kingdom of Thebes from her curse is kingship and the hand of queen Jocasta, his biological mother. A curse (also called execration) is any manner of Adversity thought to be inflicted by any supernatural power (such as a spell, a Prayer, an Princess Mother redirects here for Princess Mother Srinagraidra of Thailand see Srinagarindra A Queen Dowager or Dowager Queen (compare The prophecy is thus fulfilled, although none of the main role players know it.

The play begins years after Oedipus has taken the throne of Thebes. A play, or stageplay, is a form of Literature written by a Playwright, almost always consisting of Dialogue between Fictional characters The Theban chorus cries out to him for salvation from the plague sent by the gods in response to Laius's murder. Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides The Greek chorus ( choros) is believed to have grown out of the Greek Dithyrambs and Tragikon drama in tragic plays of the ancient In Epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Oedipus searches for the murderer, unaware that it is he himself that he is promising to exile.

The blind prophet Tiresias is called upon to aid the search, but, after his warning against following through with it, Oedipus oppugns him as the murderer, even though he is blind and aged. Everes redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Everes (genus. In response, an angry Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is looking for himself, causing the king to become enraged in incredulity. He then accuses the prophet of conspiring with Creon, Jocasta's brother, to overthrow him. Creon ( Attic Greek: Κρέων - Kreōn, meaning "ruler" is the name of two mythological Greek kings a mythological son of

Oedipus calls for one of Laius's former servants, the only surviving witness of the murder, who fled the city when Oedipus became king in order to avoid being the one to reveal the truth. Soon a messenger from Corinth arrives to inform the king of the death of Polybus, whom Oedipus still believes to be his real father. At this point, the messenger informs him that he was in fact adopted and that his true parentage is unknown. In the subsequent discussions between Oedipus, Jocasta, the servant and the messenger, the second-mentioned surmises the truth and runs away in shame.

Oedipus remains stubborn and incredulous until a second messenger arrives with the shepherd, who reveals that Oedipus himself was the child abandoned by Laius. He realises what he is, and leaves in a rage. An attendant then breaks the news that Jocasta has hanged herself. On discovering her body, Oedipus gouges out his eyes with the golden brooches on her dress. A Fibula is an ancient brooch (Plural fibulae Technically the Latin term fibulae refers specifically to Roman brooches however the term is widely used to

The play ends with Oedipus entrusting his children to Creon and declaring his intent to live in exile. Although he initially begs for the company of his children, Creon refuses, and Oedipus is exiled alone. In the denouement, the chorus narrates his tragic history. [3]

Sophocles' departure from mythic tradition

In the Archaic period, two cities in particular, Troy and Thebes, were the focus of Greek epic poetry. Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation The events surrounding the Trojan War were chronicled in the so-called Epic Cycle, and Myths about Thebes in the so-called Theban Cycle, which has been lost. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her The Epic Cycle (Επικός Κύκλος was a collection of Ancient Greek Epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the The Theban Cycle (Θηβαϊκὸς Κύκλος is a collection of four lost epics of ancient Greek literature which related the mythical history of the Boeotian Combined, the epics in this cycle recount the many misfortunes that befell Thebes—particularly the House of Laius. [1]

In 467 BC, Sophocles's fellow tragedian Aeschylus won first prize at the City Dionysia with a trilogy about the House of Laius, comprising Laius, Oedipus and (which is the sole surviving play) Seven against Thebes. Events By place Roman republic Quintus Fabius Vibulanus becomes consul of the Roman Republic for the first of three times Aeschylus (ˈɛskɨləs or /ˈiːskɨləs/ Greek: Ασχύλος, Aischylos, 525 BC/524 BC 456 BC/455 BC was an ancient Greek Playwright The Dionysia was a large religious festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central event of which was the performance of tragedies The Seven against Thebes (Επτά επί Θήβας Epta epi Thēbas) is a mythic narrative whose classic statement is found in the play by Aeschylus (467 BCE Aeschylus presumably treated Oedipus's story as one link in a chain of calamities that befell Laius, his son and his grandsons. [2]

Sophocles did not share Aeschylus's predilection for writing connected trilogies. His play, then, by necessity, treats the Oedipus myth with a much narrower focus than its epic and tragic predecessors. Though Laius's story obviously plays a part in the tragedy, the travails of Oedipus become much more self-contained. No longer part of an entire House's inexorable slide to ruin, Sophocles's Oedipus the King is instead the tragedy of a single man who tries to outwit the defiant Delphic Oracle and fails.

Themes and motifs

Fate

Fate is a theme often occurring in Greek plays in general and tragedies in particular. From the beginning of this one, we know that Oedipus is destined to "kill his father and mate with his mother". Oedipus runs away from Corinth and meets his biological father Laius, only to kill him, not knowing that Laius is his father. He then proceeds to Thebes, where a sphinx is terrorizing the city. He solves the riddle and marries his mother, unwittingly.

Oracles, fate and free will

Two oracles dominate the plot of Oedipus the King. In lines 711 to 714, Jocasta relates the prophecy that was told Laius before the birth of Oedipus. Laius was told only of the patricide, not the incest:

There was an oracle once that came to Laius—
I will not say that it was Phoebus's own,
but it is was from His servants—and it told him
that it was fate that he should die a victim
at the hands of his own son, a son to be born
of Laius and me. In Greek mythology, King Laius, or Laios of Thebes was a divine hero and key personage in the Theban founding myth Patricide is (i the act of killing one's father or (ii a person who kills his or her father

The oracle is implicitly conditional: if Laius has a son, that son will kill him, so Laius is in no way a victim of fate. He knowingly fathers a child and suffers the predicted consequences. Hearing this prophecy prompts Oedipus to recall one that he received from the Delphic Oracle shortly before he left Corinth (787-93):

And so I went in secret off to Delphi.
Apollo sent me back without an answer,
so I didn't learn what I had come to find.
But when he spoke he uttered monstrous things, strange terrors and horrific miseries—
it was my fate to defile my mother's bed,
to bring forth to men a human family that people could not bear to look upon,
to murder the father who engendered me.

Given our modern conception of fate and fatalism, readers of the play have a tendency to view Oedipus as a mere puppet controlled by greater forces. Destiny refers to a predetermined course of events It may be conceived as a predetermined future whether in general or of an individual Fatalism is a Philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate or inevitable predetermination This, however, is inaccurate. While it is a mythological truism that oracles exist to be fulfilled, oracles merely predict the future. Neither they nor Fate dictate the future. In his landmark essay "On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex",[4] E.R. Dodds draws a comparison with Jesus's prophecy at the Last Supper that Peter would deny him three times that night. Eric Robertson Dodds ( 26 July 1893 - 8 April 1979) was an Irish classical scholar In the Christian Gospels the Last Supper (also called the Lord's Supper or Mystical Supper) was the last meal Jesus shared with his Jesus knows that Peter will do this — but he in no way forces him to do it. Thus is the case with Oedipus.

The oracle delivered to Oedipus is often called a "self-fulfilling prophecy", in that the prophecy itself sets in motion events that conclude with its own fulfillment. [5] This, however, is not to say that Oedipus is a victim of fate and has no free will. The oracle inspires a series of specific choices, freely made by Oedipus, which lead to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus chooses not to return to Corinth after hearing the oracle, just as he chooses to head toward Thebes, to kill Laius, to marry and to take Jocasta specifically as his bride; in response to the plague at Thebes, he chooses to send Creon to the Oracle for advice and then to follow that advice, initiating the investigation into Laius's murder. None of these choices were predetermined.

Another characteristic of oracles in myth is that they are almost always misunderstood by those who hear them; hence Oedipus's misunderstanding the significance of the Delphic Oracle. He visits Delphi to find out who his real parents are and assumes that the Oracle refuses to answer that question, offering instead an unrelated prophecy which forecasts patricide and incest. Oedipus's assumption is incorrect: the Oracle does answer his question. Stated less elliptically, the answer to his question reads thus: "Polybus and Merope are not your parents. You will one day kill a man who will turn out to be your biological father. You will also one day marry, and the woman whom you choose as your bride will be your real mother. "

State control

The exploration of this theme in Oedipus the King is paralleled by the examination of the conflict between the individual and the state in Antigone. The dilemma that Oedipus faces here is similar to that of the tyrannical Creon: each man has, as king, made a decision that his subjects question or disobey; each king also misconstrues both his own role as a sovereign and the role of the rebel. When informed by the blind prophet Teiresias that religious forces are against him, each king claims that the priest has been corrupted. Everes redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Everes (genus. It is here, however, that their similarities come to an end: while Creon, seeing the havoc he has wreaked, tries to amend his mistakes, Oedipus refuses to listen to anyone. [6]

Sight and blindness

Literal and metaphorical references to eyesight appear throughout Oedipus the King. Clear vision serves as a metaphor for insight and knowledge, but the clear-eyed Oedipus is blind to the truth about his origins and inadvertent crimes. The prophet Teiresias, on the other hand, although literally blind, "sees" the truth and relays what is revealed to him. Everes redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Everes (genus. Only after Oedipus has physically blinded himself so as not to look upon his children, the fruit of his unconscious sin, does he gain a limited prophetic ability, as seen in Oedipus at Colonus. Oedipus at Colonus (also Oedipus Coloneus, and in Greek Οἰδίπους ἐπὶ Κολωνῷ Oidipous epi Kolōnō) is one of the

Was Oedipus Guilty?

Frederick Ahl[7] has notably revived Voltaire's observation[8] that, in Sophocles's telling of the myth, the evidence appears to exonerate Oedipus of patricide and incest. François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French In Oedipus's own version of events at the crossroads, he killed a man and all his attendants; there were no survivors. According to Jocasta, however, one of the attendants survived and indicated that multiple killers were involved. On the face of it, it seems that Oedipus and Jocasta cannot be describing the same event, so, to clarify the matter, Oedipus summons the witness. In the meantime, a messenger arrives, announcing the death of Polybus and, in so doing, reveals that Polybus and Merope were not Oedipus's birth parents. Long ago, the messenger had been a shepherd and was given the infant Oedipus by another shepherd. He turned the baby over to Polybus and Merope, who raised him as if he were their own. Just then, the witness arrives, and the Corinthian messenger identifies him as the shepherd who had handed Oedipus over to him years ago. The witness confirms the messenger's story.

What the witness does not do is answer the question for which he was originally summoned: was Laius killed by one man or many? This seems to have been entirely forgotten. Based on what the messenger and the witness have said, Oedipus and (presumably) Jocasta conclude that he is the son of Laius and Jocasta, and that he has committed both patricide and incest. Yet Oedipus's account of the events at the crossroads and the witness's account (as recalled by Jocasta) cannot both be true. This unresolved discrepancy, Ahl argues, suggests that Oedipus is guilty of neither patricide nor incest: the power of the drama lies in his haste to convict himself on insufficient evidence. Mary Whitlock Blundell has called Ahl's interpretation "a breathtaking perversity". [9]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Although we know that Sophocles won second prize with the group of plays that included Oedipus the King, its date of production is uncertain. Oedipus (pronounced /ˈɛdəpəs/ in American English or /ˈiːdəpəs/ in British English; Greek: Oidípous meaning "swollen-footed" Other musical works on the same subject include the opera Oedipe by George Enescu, "Oedipus Rex" by Tom Lehrer, and Oedipus Tex is a satirical Western -themed Oratorio by P D Q Bach that follows the adventures of Oedipus Tex ("you may have The Oedipus complex, in Freudian Psychoanalysis, is named after the Greek mythical character Oedipus, who unknowingly kills his father The prominence of the Theban plague at the play's opening suggests to many scholars a reference to the plague that devastated Athens in 430 BC, and hence a production date shortly thereafter. Events By place Greece The army of Sparta loots Attica for a second time but Pericles is not daunted and refuses See, for example, Bernard Knox: "The Date of the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles," The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 77, No. 2 (1956), 133-147. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
  2. ^ It is widely argued that Aristotle in his Poetics identifies Oedipus the King as the best Greek tragedy. See, for example, Elizabeth Belfiore: Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on Plot and Emotion (Princeton, 1992), p. See also Princeton Township New Jersey, Borough of Princeton New Jersey Princeton Borough New Jersey Princeton Township New Jersey this Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) 176. Nevertheless, although Aristotle praises many aspects of the play, he also expresses a preference (1454a) for tragedies in which a timely recognition prevents violence and a plot arc that moves from misfortune to good fortune (as in Euripides's Iphigeneia at Tauris); Oedipus the King, conversely, features a belated recognition of mistaken violence, and a plot that moves from good fortune to misfortune. Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus 112 Iphigenia is an Asteroid. Iphigeneia (Eng /ɪfədʒə'naɪə/, also Iphigenia See Christopher S. Morrissey, "Oedipus the Cliché: Aristotle on Tragic Form and Content", Anthropoetics 9, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2003).
  3. ^ Herodotus, in his Histories (Book 1. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 32), attributes this maxim to the 6th-century Athenian statesman Solon. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet.
  4. ^ Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser. , Vol. 13, No. 1 (Apr. , 1966), pp. 37-49
  5. ^ Strictly speaking, this is inaccurate: Oedipus himself set these events in motion when he decided to investigate his parentage against the advice of Polybus and Merope.
  6. ^ Sophocles. Sophocles I: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone. 2nd ed. Grene, David and Lattimore, Richard, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1991.
  7. ^ Sophocles' Oedipus: Evidence and Self-Contradiction (Ithaca, 1992); see also Rix, R. Ithaca or Ithaka (in Greek, Ιθάκη, Ithaki) is an island in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of 118 km² Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) W. "Was Oedipus Framed?" Orbis Litterarum 54. 2 (1999), 134–145. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar)
  8. ^ See his "Third Letter on Oedipus".
  9. ^ Review of Ahl 1992 in The Classical Journal, Vol. 87. 3 (Feb. -Mar. , 1992), pp. 299-301.

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