Oedipus the King: the Savior of Thebes

Oedipus the King: The Savior of Thebes

"Oedipus the King" is one of the most productive and disastrous Greek drama of its era. Twisted with murder, lies, betrayal and vengeance, the play is distorted with fear, pain and doom from the beginning to the end. It is the combination of the mystical theme Fate and the hubristic nature of Oedipus, which gives the play character and meaning as a Greek drama and essentially a tragedy. Through the uses of theme, the roles of the protagonist versus the antagonist, irony and hubris, the play takes on a dynamic complex that would leave readers stunned and regal. Oedipus as one of the most tragic plays of all time and Oedipus as one of the most flawed characters of all time. Was it truly fate that ruined Oedipus the man, the king, or was it his arrogance that would eventually dethrone him and send him into a blind exile? Many readers would venture to say that even though Oedipus was not physically blinded until the end of the play when he gouges out his eye sockets, he had in fact been blind the entire time; blind to his hubristic nature and blind to the doom that lay in wait for him; a doom that had been predicted by the oracle at his birth. Had Oedipus never solved the riddle of the Sphinx and become king, would the outcome of his life have been different? The fate of Oedipus was sealed from the beginning and as fate would have it, also played an integral part in the arrogant and hubristic nature of Oedipus the man and the king.

Although the readers of "Oedipus" have insight into the plays true nature that some of the characters are not privy to, the emotional rollercoaster that the audience takes with Oedipus and other characters of the play are nonetheless taxing and disturbing to say the least. The theme of fate is such a heavy element and makes for great drama and tragedy that it forces the readers to look at the play from different angles and to question the actual nature of the theme. Was Oedipus' excessive pride and arrogance due to fate or was his fate sealed due to his excessive pride and arrogance? The question can be debated on both sides with arguments and evidence being offered that would support either claim. In his book Oedipus the King: Sophocles, Nicholas Randall wrote, "The ancient Greeks acknowledged the role of Fate as a reality outside the individual that shaped and determined human life." (3).With this being said, it is inconceivable that the person would have a fighting chance against fate because it had been determined beforehand. Randall also goes on to say, "Oedipus' brilliance, then, is matched by his overconfidence and rashness-a habit of mind that makes him prey to the very fate he wished to avoid." (3). One can then deduce that in fact Oedipus' fate was intertwined with both what was predicted and because of his unwillingness to rationalize his words and actions and this made him an easier target for fate to enter his life and consume him. To many the fortune of man could be seen as a cruel joke by the Gods, it was a troublesome and sometimes a traumatic concept, especially for the Greeks because they believed whole-heartedly in its power and importance sometimes to their own detriment or the detriment of others. Fate to the Greeks was a no win situation and could not be avoided at any cost; whatever had been predicted would eventually happen. As much as Oedipus tried to fight his fate, leaving the only home he ever knew and putting as much distance between himself and his parents as not to fall prey to his destiny, his mindset caused him to behave in a manner that set him on a collision course in which the only logical outcome could be the tragedy that ensued.

As with the play "Oedipus", the audience realizes that Oedipus is the protagonist for he is the central character which all the drama is centered upon. There are many characters that could be deemed the antagonist in this play, but as one takes a closer look, a pattern begins to emerge. What if the protagonist and the antagonist are the same person? Is that possible? Yes, it is. Such is the case with Oedipus; he plays both the protagonist and antagonist because it is with himself that he is waging war; searching to bring about the swift and merciless justice to the murderer of King Laios. Oedipus is truly invested in Thebes and her people and he proves this by searching and questioning anyone who may have knowledge of the events that took place on that ill-fated day. In the book, The Complete Plays of Sophocles, the author Moses Hadas writes in the introduction, "only an uncommonly good man would persist in his investigation so unflaggingly even after it had become manifest that is might be disastrous." (Xii). With this statement, the reader truly understands the good nature that is apparently at the heart of Oedipus for he is truly a good man and aims to do well at all costs. Just as the reader has seen the good in Oedipus, the reader also sees the alternate side that can beseech him at any moment if he thinks he has been crossed. Hadas writes, "But just as only the impetuosity of Oedipus could make Teiresias speak out, so only his quick temper could make him ignore Teiresias' revelation." (79). The reader has come to see Oedipus in a dual fashion; he is the ruler of Thebes and has her and her peoples' best interest at heart and yet the prophet Teiresias is accusing him of the murder of Laios which causes Oedipus to lose his calm. It would be understandable for the reader to believe that Teiresias is the antagonist; as it would seem that he is offering opposition to Oedipus in determining the truth. This is not the case. Teiresias is merely a vessel through which the truth flows. It is Oedipus the antagonist; the dispeller of the truth opposing Oedipus the protagonist; the seeker of the truth.

The irony of Oedipus playing a dual role as both the dispeller and seeker of the truth is just one of the many examples of irony that exist throughout the play and provide a cohesive nature that allows it to tie into many other facets of the tragedy. The play is wrought with irony and is an integral and essential part which makes the ruin of Oedipus so traumatic. In scene I, Sophocles writes; (733)

"Wealth, power, craft of statesmanship!

Kingly position, everywhere admired!

What savage envy is stored up against these,

If Creon, whom I trusted, Creon my friend,

For this great office which the city once

Put