Prophecy was a concept highly valued and important to the Greeks.
Prophecy is a given fate that is unavoidable and inevitable to occur. When Oedipus
turns to Apollo for answers about his real parents, he is instead given a prophecy
about his fate. The prophecy stated that Oedipus’ future would be filled with “pain,
terror, and disease” (872). It foretold that he would be “fated to couple with
[his] mother” (873) and “will kill [his] father” (875). This means that Oedipus
cannot escape the fate of having to to sleep with his mother and kill his
father. After hearing this, Oedipus fled from being prince in his home in
Corinth. He was running away from his parents to prevent the prophecy from becoming
reality, even though he was unsure who his real parents are. When Oedipus recalled the memory of him killing the travelers he encountered at the “place where
three roads meet” (805), the same place where Laius was killed, he begins to
fear that he already killed his father; therefore beginning to make the prophecy
is come true.
The concept that a prophecy is inescapable impacts the plot
because the characters will do anything they can to avoid a prophecy. This concept
drove Oedipus to completely leave being a prince and his family in hopes that
he can avoid his fate, but the story is beginning to reveal that he is unable
to avoid the prophecy if a man he killed on that road where Laius died was his
real father. The concept of a prophecy impacts the theme of the piece because
it dictates the character’s actions. Ultimately, prophecy was important in
Greek culture because once it was given it was inescapable. Oedipus fears that he brought his fate onto himself by trying to avoid it.
The prophecy did seem to come true when it is possible that Oedipus may have killed Laius. But then again, Jocasta's oracle/ prophecy did not seem to come true- yet. I wonder if her oracle will come true in the future or if the prophecy- for once- was wrong. Is it possible that her future son committ these crimes?
ReplyDeleteI like that you said, “once [the prophecy] was given it was inescapable.” This makes me wonder why Apollo wanted to give Oedipus this prophecy in the first place; he only wanted to find out about his parents — not to find out about his future. Nonetheless, it is common sense that anyone would want to change that prophecy. It would have been creepy if Oedipus accepted the fact that, in the future, he will commit incest with his mother and kill his father.
ReplyDeleteProphecy is a very important theme in this story. The people of Thebes heavily rely on these trusted prophets and when the plague struck their city, Oedipus looked to the blind prophet, Tiresias, to tell them who is responsible for the murderer of Laius. When Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the one who killed Laius, he is offended that the prophet would even suggest such a thing, but it emphasized the betrayal that he left upon the people of Thebes because of their reliance on the prophet.
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