Tragedy

“You will no longer see all those atrocious things I suffered, the dreadful things I did! No. You have seen what you never should have looked upon, and what I wished to know you did not see. So now and for all future time be dark!” (line 1520) Oedipus screams as he gauges out his own eyes in response to finding his wife (and mother) hanging in their bedroom. This is where the Greek tragedy finally earns it's title. As Oedipus finds out without a doubt who truly killed king Lauis and who he himself truly is, all goes downhill. He recognizes that even though it is his own life, a punishment must me given just as he proclaimed in the beginning. First came the eyes, a dramatic use of symbolism as he can not face the truth. His children he even calls his siblings, though can't bear to see the face that was given to them through incest. He does ask Creon to allow them to live a life safe from himself, as he wants them to never face the suffering he now endures. He believes that banishment from Thebos is the only way to atone. To live in Exile is what the gods want in his opinion, as death would be far too much forgiveness. He set out to find the murderer of their king, and he has, Now he must accept what has come to him, the punishment of Apollo himself, and leave Thebos and atone for what he has done. 

The Chorus

The chorus in Oedipus is like Oedipus’ friend. The chorus seems to, not exactly, take Oedipus’ side, but when Oedipus’ odds are not in his favor, the chorus doesn’t seem to stray far from his side. Oedipus even calls the Chorus his friends after the chorus goes to him and says “Dreadful, what you’ve done…” Talking about how Oedipus gouged his eyes out. Oedipus responds, “what love, what call of the heart can touch my ears with joy? Nothing, friends.Take me away, far, far, from Thebes, quickly, cast me away, my friends--”(l. 1475-1478). Oedipus feels like he can rely on the chorus for honesty and advice such as a friend would. The chorus told Oedipus, “how can I say you’ve chosen for the best? Better to die than be alive and blind” just like how one friend would be honest and tell the other friend that their decision might not have been the best and further input their opinion (l.1497-1498). Oedipus then pushes their opinion away when he says, “What I did was best--don’t lecture me, no more advice”(l. 1499-1500).

In general, the chorus was sympathetic for all the poor events that happened in Oedipus’ recent history.  After hearing that Oedipus was the killer, the chorus starts weeping, “now I weep like a man who wails the dead…”(l. 1346).  After seeing Oedipus with his gouged-out eyes, the chorus sadly realizes that Oedipus suffers twice, they tell him “you suffer twice over, the pain of your wounds, the lasting grief of pain”(l. 1457-1458).

Reflections

Oedipus is reevaluating his past actions. “What, Oedipus? What haunts you so?” (814). Jocasta questions Oedipus about what he is thinking about. At that point in time, Oedipus was flashing back his memory to the day he murdered men and how that day fit the description of Jocasta’s version of the murder of Laius so well. “Oh, but if there is any blood-tie between Laius and this stranger… what man alive more miserable than I?” (901). Oedipus believes he may have been the one to have murdered Laius. He is pondering his past doings and the oracle he once received from Delphi. The oracle read, “You are fated to couple with your mother… you will kill your father, the one who gave you life” (873-875). He is now placing hypothetical situations in his head that if he were indeed the murderer, was the prophecy given true?

                This past action factors into his present time events by possibly placing him to be the suspect of a cold blooded murder of a king. The city of Thebes is suffering badly from a plague and the only way to end the illness from spreading, according to the oracle, is to kill the murderer of King Laius. Oedipus recalling past memories, it may place him to be the murder of the King (the audience knows he is indeed the son and murder of Laius). He may be murdered and be put to shame if the public finds out he was the one who murdered the king.

Honor

Like many ancient peoples, the Greeks valued honor above all things. It follows that the tragic ending to Oedipus should be riddled with last-ditch attempts at preserving one's honor. Sure enough, both the protagonist and his wife (mother!) close out the story with a dramatic display of decorum.

Jocasta, for her part, realizes the truth before her son and husband. "You're doomed--" yells Jocasta in her final moments, just before fleeing, "May you never fathom who you are!" (1173-1174). She runs from the scene, and these lines convey her desperation. She is before long found hanging in her bedchamber, unable to cope with the life she has made for herself.

Rather than continue on as wife and mother of the same man--a man she once tried to kill--Jocasta takes her own life, thereby salvaging the shreds of dignity she still possesses. This action shows that she, as a typical Greek, values honor and reputation more than her own life.

Similarly, no sooner does Oedipus find Jocasta's body than he takes the pins from her robes and stabs his own eyes out, crying, "'You, you'll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused!'" (1405-1406). As Oedipus has been "blind" to the truth through the play, it is fitting that he should disable his eyesight so gruesomely. A true Greek tragic hero, he gives himself a punishment worthy of his crime.

Both Oedipus and Jocasta attempt to right things in the end by delivering to themselves fates of which they think they are deserving. In doing so these two protagonists display characteristics of tragic heroes and personify true ancient Greek culture and beliefs regarding honor.

Blog Post 4

After seeing Jocasta committed suicide, Oedipus stabs his eyes out with the gold pins that held her robe together. By stabbing himself in the eyes, Oedipus blinds himself. He in essence becomes like the blind prophet, Tiresias, who earlier in the play he chastised. Tiresias says "I have escaped; the truth is what I cherish and that’s my strength."(404-405). Oedipus now has a newfound strength.  Without his physical sight, he is able to see more on the "inside". he has more insight like a prophet and is able to look inside himself. Despite "[tearing] the brooches—the gold chased brooches fastening her robe— away from her and lifting them up high [dashing] them on his own eyeballs" (1455-1458), Oedipus does not make mention pain at all. The chorus asks "Is he now in any ease from pain?" (1475). The psychological pain he endures outweighs the physical pain so much that he does not fell physical pain at all. He is now no longer focused on the physical world, rather the psychological pain that goes along with realizing the truth.  By realizing the prophecy about him is true, inadvertently Oedipus becomes more wise and in touch with himself. It is too late though.

Shameful Downfall of a True Leader

“To this guilt I bore witness against myself— with what eyes shall I look upon my people?” (1561-62). Decimated, humiliated, and confused, Oedipus cannot fathom the undeniable truth of being the murderer of his father, husband of his mother, and the product of adoption.  The irony Sophocles reveals at the end of this story is mind-boggling and rather inconceivable. Throughout the entirety of the story, Oedipus refuses to believe the prophecy of Tiresias.  When we finally discover he does the things Tiresias accuses him of, we are left in a state of awe and amazement.  The allegations Oedipus attempts to circumvent haunt him like ghosts in a graveyard; he cannot avoid them.  His reaction to this grief-stricken discovery is one of bitter remorse, for he decides to stab his eyeballs, causing eye damage and blindness. A leader who people envision as strong-minded and optimistic descends quickly to a weak and guilty suspect.  “I beg of you in God’s name hide me somewhere outside your country, yes, or kill me, or throw me into the sea, to be forever out of your sight” (1586-89).  Oedipus’s stigma delivers him a feeling of loneliness and embarrassment, for he asks for God to keep him out of his sight. He repeatedly requests for Creon to send him far away from Thebes, claiming that he does not deserve to remain in the city.  His shame outweighs all the positive contributions and accomplishments he holds in Thebes, and forges a sympathetic view of life for himself and the city. The quote, “Give me liberty or give me death” by Patrick Henry accurately describes the situation. Oedipus does not feel he deserves to live after the allegations are proven to be true. With his failure to prosper, he believes death is the best option.

Dramatic Irony

The plot of Oedipus the King depends heavily on dramatic irony fueled by two valiant attempts to change the course of fate. Jocasta is told that her husband would die at the hands of her son; in an attempt to prevent this from happening she abandons her child leaving his fate up to the gods. Oedipus is told that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. As to prevent this from happening, Oedipus takes matters into his own hands and flees Corinth. Instead of running from fate, he inadvertently runs towards it. He leaves Corinth only to find that in doing so he has found his real parents and carried out the oracle's words. Both Oedipus and Jocasta prematurely exult over the failure of oracles, only to find that the oracles were right after all. Each character’s attempt to escape fate creates dramatic irony because the audience knows that they are in no way escaping fate but rather expediting the process. Each time a character tries to avert the future predicted by the oracles, the audience knows their attempt is futile, creating the sense of irony that permeates the play. Both Oedipus and Jocasta think that taking action will keep fate from happening, but as they will soon learn fate is bound to happen. 

Not only do Oedipus and Jocasta try to avoid the events that have been prophesied, they try to convince themselves and each other that prophecies are not true. Jocasta believes prophecies are false and convinces Oedipus the same, yet at the beginning of the very next scene we see her praying to the very same gods from which these prophecies originate. She "comes with prayers and offerings" giving the audience a sense that she may believe in prophecies after all (1008).