Roberto Armenteros
Humanities 104 A
May 3, 2000
Oedipus and the gods
In the story Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles, Oedipus, the main character, ends up turning into the
"living dead" once he finds out that his real identity made him the most unfortunate man in the world.
Until the end, Oedipus could not accept the facts that he killed his own father Laius, the king of Thebes,
and married his mother Iocaste, the queen. This is the reason for his decision to blind himself and run away
from his land and children.
If I had my eyes,
I do not know how I could bear the sight
Of my father, when I came to the house of death,
Of my mother: for I have sinned against them both
So vilely that I could not make peace
By strangling my own life (Exodos, 140-146).
Did Sophocles intend the readers to think of Oedipus as a good man in Oedipus Rex? To answer this
question, the character of Oedipus has to be analyzed in the story to find out about the nature of his actions
and the reason for he acted the way he did.
In the opening scene, Oedipus was the greatest and noblest of men, the saviour of Thebes who with
divine aid rescued the city from the Sphinx in the eyes of the priest. He viewed Oedipus asthe most qualified
person who could help and guide the city of Thebes in the face of any adversity (Dodds, 19).
You are not one of the immortal gods, we know;
Yet we have come to you to make our prayer
As to the man of all men best in adversity
And wisest in the ways of god… (Prologue, 35-38).
By solving the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus had proven his wisdom and intelligence; this action suggests that
his intentions are to put his excellent qualities to good use. As the king of Thebes, people in the city always believed
he was a great king and when the catastrophe comes at the end of the play, no one turns around to say: "Well it was
your own fault." In addition, upon the request of his people to solve the mystery around the death of the king,
Oedipus assumes his position as the leader of Thebes and decides to bring to justice the ones responsible for such
tragedy: "Then once more I must bring what is dark to light (Prologue, 134). In these words, Oedipus' positive
intentions are shown as well as his prompt response to his citizens. Oedipus is a good king to Thebes since his
city could always count on his unconditional help.
Oedipus understood his people very well, to the
extent that when he was tld that he ought to consult the oracle
to find out Apollo's wishes by the people, he has already
done so (Karayannakos, screen).
According to the role played by Oedipus as a responsible king and his deferential attitude toward Thebes, the
answer of whether Sophocles intended the readers to think of Oedipus as a good man in the story is quite obvious, yes.
This fact proves that Oedipus is a good man among men.
However, if Oedipus was such a good man and king, whose decisions were always directed into doing things the
right way, then why did everything go so wrong for him as the play progressed? One major part of the answer lies in the
fact that Oedipus did not know his real identity and he wasn't aware of this fact. He always assumed he knew who
he was, as it is expected. It was not his fault that his mother Iocasta and his father Laius, king and queen of Thebes,
ordered a shepherd to get rid of him when he was a baby because prophecies said he was going to kill his father and marry
his mother. It was not his fault that fate made sure that the shepherd did not let him die in the woods since he found
stepparents, whom Oedipus thinks were his real parents, who brought him up since he was a baby. The actions of Oedipus'
parents when they tried to get rid of him and the shepherd when he saved Oedipus' life show that since Oedipus' early age,
mortals were intervening with gods as they tried to change Oedipus destiny and avoid the prophecies. This stage in Oedipus'
life marks the beginning of a conflict which would later become the main reason of his downfall, mortal versus gods. This
conflict grows stronger when Oedipus learns about this prophecy, which changes completely the course of his life.
You will kill your father, you will sleep with your mother.
And what an oracle predicts is bound to happen. Oedipus
does what he can to evade his destiny: he resolves never to
see his supposed parents again (Dodds, 21)
By departing from his home he was trying to modify his fate and destiny, which was impossible since destiny and
the oracles
are unconditional, in other words, no mortal can change them. This creates a conflict: Oedipus versus destiny. This leads
him to act as the blind man in the story and marks a change in Oedipus life. It was fate that made Oedipus leave Corinth.
It was fate that decided that Oedipus was not going to live with his own parents. It was fate itself that made Oedipus
unaware of who he really was, converting him into the blindest man of all in Thebes. At this point blindness becomes
one of the underlying themes in Oedipus Rex (Dodds, 21).
In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect physical vision.
However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about
himself and his past. He desperately wants to know, to see, but
he cannot. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus' actions
must be: to overcome the blindness (LaBranche, screen).
Oedipus's blindness was not just physical blindness, which occurred when Oedipus took his eyes out, but intellectual
blindness as well. Blindness in Oedipus can be broken down into Oedipus' ability to see and his willingness to see.
Although he wanted to know the truth such as who killed the king, and at the end, who he really was, his ability as a
mortal did not allow him to know beyond what he already knew. The presence of a physically blind man, Teiresias,
who had the power to predict destiny, contrasts with the blindness of Oedipus. Teiresias can see the truth about
Oedipus and he certainly tells Oedipus about it, but why should Oedipus believe what an old, mortal, blind man has
to say about him, especially when the things said were of such a harmful nature? (LaBranche, screen) This conflict
of Teiresias versus Oedipus can be seen in the following lines:
Teiresias: I say that you are the murderer whom you seek.
Oedipus: Now twice you have out infamy! You'll pay for it!
Teiresias: Would you care for more? Do you wish to be really angry?
Oedipus: Say what you will, whatever you say is worthless.
This confrontation with Teiresias reveals Oedipus' blindness once again. Through the character Teiresias, the gods
tried
to give Oedipus clues which suggested that he should take his place as a human and try not to mess up with the gods.
However, Oedipus was so sure of himself that he never paid too much attention to these clues and he even ignored them.
By the end of the play, Oedipus learns the true nature of things. His past is revealed to him and he learns that the oracle
was correct. He can see the truth, but he still does not want to accept his fate. Oedipus commits an act of escapism. He
blinds himself because he does not want to see the real side to his life. His previous willingness to see the truth turns into
cowardice. He didn't want to accept the situation the way he "saw" it, and decided instead not to see it at all (LaBranche, screen).
People never though less of him because of the limitations of sight he had as a mortal. The gods have an insight on humans not only
physically, but to the human nature. They could read what was in Oedipus' mind as well as his attitude of greatness. Oedipus,
on the other hand, could not see beyond a regular human's sight. That's why he cannot be blamed because he killed his father
since he did not know Laius was his real father. The way this has to be interpreted is that Laius offended Oedipus' honor and
as Oedipus would have done with any other man in Laius' place, he reacted violently and killed the king and most of his escort.
Similarly, Oedipus cannot be blamed because he was sleeping with his mother since in his heart his only mother was Merope,
the one he left behind to avoid the oracle. In fact, if Oedipus were to be blamed at all, both Laius and Iocasta should be blamed
as well. They tried to change their destiny when they ordered the Shepherd to take the baby Oedipus to the woods to avoid the
prophecy even before Oedipus did.
Throughout the story, while Oedipus acted and behaved nobly given his limited knowledge, the role of the gods in
determining and manipulating Oedipus' fate needs to be examined. "…Oedipus is recognized as the little infant with tortured
feet from the house of Laius" (Pucci, 149 ). These words suggest that Oedipus had been tortured and that he was the victim
of someone else. As a matter of fact, in his life he has been a victim of a superior force that no mortal, for great that he may be,
can even get close to imitate, the force of the gods. Sophocles' own words arrive at this conclusion: "You could not grasp divine
matters which the gods hide, not even if you went all lengths in scrutinizing them" (Cameron, 63). Oedipus was well aware of this.
He addresses the Thebans by saying: "Base would I be if I failed to do all that the god shows" (Cameron, 63). Being aware of the
god's power was not enough. Any mortal who threatens the god by trying to exceed their power will be the unhappiest man in the
world. In the case of Oedipus, he rebelled against his fate, then he killed the old king, solved the riddle and became king himself,
and was considered the greatest man of all which attributed special characteristics to him as a mortal. Plus he ignored the many
times the gods tried to advise him through Teiresias. However, Oedipus' hubris represented the main reason the gods were upset
with him. Oedipus' overbearing pride made him see himself in a high position among mortals. He always acted confident as if he
had control over every situation. It was his hubris that kept him from acknowledging the clues the gods were sending him through
Teiresias. It was also his pride that made Oedipus kill the king and his escorts at Phokis:
The groom leading the horses
Forced me off the road at his lord's command;
But as this charioteer lurched over toward me
I struck him in my rage. The old man saw me
And brought his double goad down upon my head
As I came abreast
He was paid back and more!
Swinging my club in this right hand I knocked himOut of his car, and he rolled on the ground.
I killed him (II, 280-289)
Here Oedipus' hubris contributed to his blindness, making him less aware of the fact that he was irritating the
gods.
Of course this is enough for the gods to act against Oedipus and want to teach a lesson to mankind in general:
Oedipus, on being told that the source of "pollution" is
the unknown murderer of the old king, declares that he
"will bring it to light," dedicating himself to this cause for
the city and the god (Alister, 64).
These lines let Oedipus knows that the reason for the plague in Thebes is the existence of the person who murdered
the king. This is ironic since it suggests that Oedipus himself provoked the irritation of the gods, which once more
proves that he had no clue who he was, and at the same time, it proves to the reader that he is just a puppet of the gods.
The gods wanted to teach Oedipus and his people that mankind's power cannot be compared with that of the gods
and that any mortal who stands in the gods' way against their will is condemned to suffer forever more. In the Greek
religion there were many similarities between man and the gods such as appearance and many human emotions, like
hate; but it is the line between them that must not be crossed in order not to be the target of the fury of the gods.
The fact that the gods were manipulating Oedipus' actions is important since they are controlling every one of his actions.
Whenever the word fate is mentioned, it refers to the gods because they dictate a mortal's destiny. Teiresias was right
when he said: "Apollo is indeed busy; he is busy with Oedipus' fate" (Cameron, 65). This shifts the blame to the gods.
What goodness can be expected from a god that wishes evil to man? Oedipus himself once said: "O Zeus, what is it
that you mean to do with me?"(Cameron, 65). And later on in the same scene he says: "Would he who
judged
these things come upon this man from some cruel divinity not have the right understanding?" (Cameron, 65).
Little by
little, Oedipus is becoming aware that Apollo is intervening in his life; but most important, he is becoming aware of the
god's power.
At the end of the play, the outcome for Oedipus was terrible. As a mortal, he ended up crushed by the fury of the
gods. In this case, the god that was in charge of Oedipus' fate was Apollo, the god of light. This is significant in the play
because light is a symbol of knowledge, and relates to the message this god wanted to teach Oedipus: no mortal's
knowledge is as great as the god's. Apollo made sure Oedipus downfall was complete to the extent that Oedipus turned
into "the living dead." After Oedipus finds out he killed his father and married his mother, he decided to punish himself
physically. He pulled his eyes out and decided to leave Thebes to unknown lands. As he said: "It was Apollo, my dear
friend, who brought these my dread sufferings to completion"(Cameron, 66). This is the end of Oedipus' life. From that
moment on, he is just a mutilated body walking on a gloomy road, his destiny:
Oedipus is great because he accepts the responsibility
of all his acts, including those which are objectively most
horrible, though subjectively innocent (Dodds, 28).
Oedipus' terrible and complete downfall symbolizes the position of man with respect to the gods in the ancient
Greek civilization. In this case the position of man was inferior to that of the gods. The gods had the power to change
a person's destiny and had a knowledge superior to man's. Apollo intended to use Oedipus as an example to humans.
But why did Apollo choose Oedipus? Oedipus, among mortals, was a symbol of greatness, intelligence, courage, and
self-confidence, as he had already proven by solving the riddle of the Sphinx and being such a respected king. All these
qualities present in Oedipus made him the best candidate for Apollo. In other words, by destroying the best of men, in
this case Oedipus, Apollo would let every man know that as mortals, they have to assume their position as inferior beings
in a world ruled by gods. In conclusion, Oedipus, the innocent victim of Apollo, is a symbol of human intelligence and
does not rest until he solves all the riddles, even the last one: "to which the answer is that human happiness is built on an
illusion" (Dodds, 28).
Work Cited
Cameron, Alister. The Identity of Oedipus the King: Five Essays on the Oedipus
Tyrannus. New York University, 1968. p.
E. R. Dodds, "On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex," Twentieth Century Interpretations
of Oedipus Rex. Ed. Michael J. O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice- Hall, 1968.
Homer, "Oedipus Rex," in Literature: Reading and
Writing the Human Experience. eds. Richard Abcarian, Marvin Klotz, Peter Richardson, 7th ed. (New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1998)
Karayannakos, Elias. 3/29/00 "Oedipus the Tyrant." < http://users.groovy.gr/~ekar/tyran.html >
LaBranche, Andre. 3/30/00. <http://www.nauticom.net/www/netman/oedipus.html>
Oedipus Rex. 1995 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 3/29/00.
<http://www.honors.montana.edu/~oelks/TC/Oedipussyn.html>
Pucci, Pietro, "Reading the riddles of Oedipus Rex," Language and the tragic hero :
essays on Greek tragedy in honor of Gordon M. Kirkwood. Ed. Pietro Pucci. Atlanta, Ga: Scholars Press, 1988.
Thesis: The facts that Oedipus did not know his own identity and that the gods turned against him were the
main reasons for
Oedipus' downfall in Oedipus Rex. In other words, Oedipus was a good man, but also a victim of fate. Finally, Oedipus
discovers that the power of the gods is always superior to that of mortals.
I. Oedipus was a good man among men.
A. He was considered "the man of all men."
1. He was wise and intelligent.
2. He solved the riddle of the sphinx and saved Thebes, and becomes the king.
B. He was a great king to Thebes.
1. He reacted quick to resolve problems of the city.
2. He understood well his people.
II. Oedipus did not know his real identity.
A. He thought Merope and Polybus were his real parents.
1. Oedipus was abandoned by Laius and Iocaste, his parents, to avoid the prophecy.
2. A Shepherd saved him and gave him to his step-parents.
B. Oedipus learns the same prophecy.
1. He leaves his town and step-parents to protect them.
2. He tried to avoid his own fate.
C. Oedipus' fate made him act as a blind man.
1. Oedipus was in conflict with his own destiny.
2. His ability as a mortal did not allow him to know the truth about himself.
3. Teiresias, a blind man, could see the truth about him.
III. Oedipus found out the truth about himself.
A. He did not want to believe the truth.
1. He killed his father.
2. He was sleeping with his mother.
B. He commits an act of escapism.
1. He blinds himself.
2. He did not want to see the truth.
3. Even blind, he could see the true nature of things.
C. It was not his fault that.
1. His limitations as a mortal kept him from knowing the truth
2. The gods were playing with his fate.
IV. Oedipus was a victim of the gods.
A. They were controlling his actions from the beginning.
B. They wanted to show him and mortals that god were more powerful.
C. The gods had reasons to condemn Oedipus.
1. He was the best of all men.
2. His hubris made the gods furious.
3. They wanted to let him know he was nothing compared to the gods.
D. The god controlling Oedipus' Fate was Apollo.
1. Apollo is the god of light, knowledge.
2. He wanted to teach Mortals through Oedipus that the knowledge of the gods is always superior to that of men.
3. Destroying "the man of all men", Oedipus, he proves to mortals that the gods' power was unattainable
to humans.
V. Oedipus ends up as "The living Dead."
A. Although he was innocent he assumed responsibility for what had happened.
1. He was a puppet of Apollo.
2. He believed he was the most unfortunate man in the world.
B. Oedipus finally realizes that a human's life is an illusion.
1. Man's life was controlled by god
2. Men cannot avoid fate