Oedipus Rex is a very rich and complex play. It can be interpret in different ways, such as Irony of fate, Pride and arrogance leads to disaster and ruin, wisdom comes through sufferings, an honest search for the truth, limitations of man’s powers, innocent always suffers, humility and reverence for the gods, Moderation is best but not extremity, blindness, knowledge, nothingness and etc.
The first theme of the play may be defined as ‘Irony Of Fate’. In the fate of Jocasta, Laius and Oedipus two events (immutable) were ordained that the son would kill his father and marry his own mother. ‘Irony Of Fate’ works in such a way that all the efforts of these characters to avoid and stop such a horrible and cruel fate could not work and just the opposite occurs. Sophocles wants to make us realize that life is full of complexities and uncertainties. We deceive ourselves when we say or even think that we can overcome it or control it, these are all human judgments. We cannot introduce changes in life. We have to suffer the things, which have already been written in our fates. We have to accept life as it comes to us; complete submission of ours is necessarily necessary on our behalf. The notion that we can overcome it, is a weak human judgment which leads to pride and ultimately to disaster, ruin and doom, which is another theme of the play. Oedipus’ personality was flawed by excessive pride and arrogance. His pride is very clear in his conversation with Teiresias. He asks Teiresias, where were you when a monster Sphinx was prevailing over the city of Thebes and Thebans were asking for help; why couldn’t you solve the riddle and freed the Thebans from the clutches of that monster Sphinx. The solution of the riddle brought disaster with itself for Oedipus. Oedipus’s overcame of Sphinx and solution of riddle, are symbols of practical wisdom or acquired wisdom, while true wisdom comes through sufferings. At first King Oedipus, like King Lear refuses to learn the lesson or to pass through that process which leads to the light of wisdom but after, life forced him and thrusted him to pass through that process which is aching and tragic. Oedipus’ murder of his father and marriage with his own mother are acts of gods or fate but his act of blinding himself is a process of free will. Now Oedipus is having insight and is far much better, humble than that of the Oedipus who was a rash one. His tragedy has sublimates his life after this refinement, he will completely be able to understand the complexities of life.
Another striking theme for the play may be “ An honest search for the Truth”. We have seen in the play that all the time Oedipus is searching for the truth. Sometimes it is much better to leave the search for truth, as it may be devastating as in case of Oedipus. Most of the time people don’t have the power to face the reality but Oedipus is an exceptional case. He was investigating and searching for the murderer of Laius while he himself was a murderer. Had he been left the search for truth, there would have been not tragedy at all, but the truth was doomed to come out. For the health of the city, it has to be brought back again. We can feel that Oedipus is innocent one. Whatsoever has happened and committed by him, that was all preordained. His act of murder of his father and marry with his own mother was according to the wish of god Apollo. It was all predestined, but we should not forget that he was all ignorant of the facts. According to Greek legend, no deed is shameful which the gods direct. Inspite all of his ignorance and innocence Oedipus has to suffer the tragedy of his life or simply we can say innocents are always subjected to suffer.
While reading Oedipus Rex, we feel a notion, which comes in our mind again and again that man is limited in his powers. He cannot do whatsoever he likes to do. He has to remain with in a limit. This world is guided by gods and divine laws to maintain order and balance in it. As Jocasta and Laius tried to thwart their fates by giving orders of Oedipus’ death and Oedipus’ departure from Corinth to avoid the fatal and cruel happenings of killing his father and marrying his mother, but they could not succeed. They were common human beings, but they tried to become super human beings or gods. Life’s precariousness, for good fortune is transient, no one is perfect other wise he would be by definition, a god. Man cannot grasp the purpose of gods. Divine aims are inscrutable many often over-whelmed the innocents in sufferings. Man with his limitations and kindness must accept the universe as moral and wisely guided by the gods. So we can say it is for a man in his greatness to accept his limitations.
When Jocasta finds Oedipus worried about the oracle, she says, oracles are nothing to believe in. she says that she had a son, and there was an oracle about him that he would kill his father and marry his mother. We (Jocasta & Laius) let him died on the mount Grthaeron – Laius has murdered by some highwaymen but not by our son, and now I am your wife not his (the dead one). It shows as she is mocking the oracle as well as gods. At the next moment when she prays for the peace of mind of her husband, a messenger from Corinth comes and tells about the death of King Polybus, at the same time he tells Oedipus about his natural parenthood that he is not the son of King Polybus and Queen Merope, as they only have brought him up. This information brings disaster in the lives of both Jocasta and Oedipus. It appears as gods have punished Jocasta for her mocking behavior towards them and making fun of them. It shows that humility and reverence for gods is very necessary, which can be another interpretation of the play.
Another important theme is the difference between appearance and reality. As Oedipus gives reasons on apparent facts and there is harshness intrusting to the realities.
In a nutshell we can say that life is indeed wonderful, but it can be brutally cruel. Arrogance and pride lead to disaster. But even the highest moral greatness and brilliant intellect cannot prevail. If there is cruelty in the universe, this is not entirely due to accident or chance but is divinely guided. The best principle of life is to practice moderation, self-distrust, reverence and humility. There is retribution for sin and guilt but there is suffering for innocents. Evil is indeed always inexplicable. Life is full of uncertainty, but the man must maintain a heroic stance throughout because the universe is rational and ordered. The central lesson is of wisdom through sufferings. Man’s fate to maintain dignity, proportion humility and self-discipline despite the complexities of life and the inevitable suffering of man.
Character and fate In Oedipus rex
‘Oracles only predict the future or compel the king to act in certain manner’
Greek tragedy is generally believed to be tragedy of fate, in contrast with Shakespearean tragedy, which is regarded as tragedy of character. Whether or not this is true of other Greek tragedies, it is inapplicable to “Oedipus Rex”. At the most we can say that both character and fate or god, play a part in the tragedy of Oedipus. Oedipus is certainly the victim of adverse chances and in this sense fate plays a part in his tragedy.
King Laius was told by the oracles that his son by Jocasta would kill him and would marry his mother. King Laius and Queen Jocasta took the extreme step of ordering the death of their own child, in order to escape the fate which had been foretold by the oracles, but in vain. In the same way when Oedipus learnt about the prophecies made by the oracle, he too did his utmost to avert his terrible fate. He fled from Corinth, determined, never again to set eyes on his supposed father and mother as long as they lived. On his way, he killed his real father quite unknowingly. He reached Thebes where people were in the grip of frightful monster. He killed the Sphinx and the people of Thebes made him their king in reward. The queen went with the throne. Thus, in complete ignorance of the identity of both his parents, he killed his father and married his mother. He performed these disastrous acts not only unknowingly and unintentionally, but also as a direct result of his efforts to escape the cruel fate, which the oracle at Delphi had communicated to him.
It is evident, then, the occurrences which bring about the tragedy in the life of Laius, Oedipus and Jocasta are the work of that mysterious supernatural power which may be called fate or destiny or be given the name Apollo. This supernatural power had pre-determined certain catastrophic events in the life of these people. These human beings take whatever measures they can think of, to avert those events and yet things turn out exactly as they had been foretold by the oracles.
As Aristotle expressed the view that tragic hero is a man highly esteemed and prosperous who falls into misfortune because of some hamartia. Now, there can be no doubt at all about the essential goodness of Oedipus. From the opening scene of play, we get the feeling that Oedipus is an ideal king. He is an able ruler, a father of his people, a great administrator and an outstanding intellectual. His chief care is not for himself but for the people of the estate.
Poor children! You may by sure I know
All that you longed for in your coming here.
I know that you are deathly sick; and yet,
Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I
Each of you suffers in himself alone
His anguish, not another’s; but my spirit
Groans for the city, for myself, for you.
Oedipus is not, however, a perfect man or even a perfect king. He does suffer from hamartia which makes him liable to incur the wrath of gods. He is a hot-tempered, rash, hasty in forming judgments, arbitrary even confident and excessively proud of his genius. He is a relentless seeker of truth. All this shows that Oedipus is not a man of flawless character. His pride in his own wisdom is one of his glaring faults. No seer or prophet found the solution of the riddle; this is Oedipus’ boast.
When that hellcat the Sphinx was performing here,
What help were you to these people?
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But I came by,
Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing--
I thought it for myself, no birds helped me!
Pride and self-confidence induce him to feel almost superior to gods. These defects constitute a tragic flaw in his character, which has been given the name of hamartia.
The connection between these defects of character in Oedipus and the sad fate he meets, is quite evident. It may be said that if he had not been hot tempered, he might not have got entangled in a fight on the road and thus have not been guilty of murdering his father. Similarly if he had been a little more cautious, he might have hesitated to marry a woman old enough to be his mother. After all there was no compulsion either in the fight that he picked up during his journey or in the act of his marriage with Jocasta. Thus both these crimes may be attributed to his own defects of character, though he did so quite unknowingly. But at the same time it has to be recognized that the pronouncement of the oracles were after all inescapable. What was foretold by the oracles must inevitably happen.
If Oedipus is the innocent victim of a doom which he can not avoid, he would appear to be a mere puppet. The whole tragedy in that case becomes a tragedy of destiny which denies human freedom. But such a view would be unsound. Sophocles does not want to regard “Oedipus Rex” as a puppet; there are certain reasons to believe that Oedipus had been portrayed as a free agent, though some of his actions are fate bound. For example his condemnation of Teiresias and Creon, his conversation with Jocasta leading him to reveal the facts of his life to her and to his learning from her the circumstances of the death of Laius, his pursuing his investigating despite the efforts of Jocasta and the shepherd to stop him and so on.
Oedipus is a relentless seeker of truth. He was determined to solve the problem of his parentage and to discover the truth. The real tragedy lies in this discovery. If he had not discovered the truth, there would hardly have been any tragedy. The intermediate cause of his ruin is therefore not fate or gods nor oracle said that he must discover the truth. The cause of tragedy lies in his own weakness. His self-blinding and self-banishment are equally free acts of choice which is also a major tragedy.
So to sum up, we can say that in the most tragic events of Oedipus life- father’s murder and marriage with his own mother, the role of fate cannot be denied. But the discovery of truth is the result of the compulsions of his own nature. The real tragedy lies in it. But the parricide and incest were pre-ordained and for these fate is responsible.
The Role of Chorus
In Sophocles’ drama “Oedipus Rex” the Chorus is used as a technique to intensify emotions and accentuate events in the drama.
As translator Paul Roche expressing in his introduction to this drama,
The Chorus is used to connect happenings between the players and the audience. The Chorus which is a group of Theban elders, comments on experience in a tragic drama and its progressions, thus intensifying emotions stirred up in the audience/readers.
Roche claims that the choruses are,
Swift, energetic and moving but they are not easy.
Chorus is also used to speed up the play. It helps the writer to convey the audience, the message that cannot be dramatized e.g. the fight between the gods.
It is also a kind of prediction. It is just like guide for the hero as well and, we find that Greek society depends much on poetical style, chorus helps to fulfill the requirement. According to Aristotle,
The main function of the poetry is to harmonize the feelings and passion of man, which chorus satisfied them fully.
It is also said that chorus is a “Neutral commentator” infact, in almost all the plays, the chorus has a very definite stance, start and identity. In this sense they are vital dramatic tool for the dramatist, switching their sympathies between the principal actors and their viewpoint from that of the characters to that of the audiences. They thus mediate the dramatic experience, focus the audience’s response and introduce a symbolic and ritualistic element.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex was perhaps the finest addition to the long dynasty of Greek tragedies most notably the way in which the tragic protagonist act out their defiance of the limits subscribed by the gods for man, while the chorus expresses the fears, hopes and judgment of the polity, the average citizen. According to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy,
The function of the chorus is to comment on the action and sometimes to narrate events.
The major role in Oedipus of the chorus as previously outlined is that of commentary. The chorus clarifies the situation to the audience in a way that enables the audience to fully comprehend the native and general ebb and flow of the plot. For example when at the end of the play, when Creon’s final words have been uttered, the chorus comments on the fate of Oedipus by saying,
From hence the lesson learn ye, to reckon no man happy till ye witness the closing day.”
Here we can see the role of commenting on the action in giving the subsequent verdict of history. The chorus comments on the plot lucidly, enabling us to reach a greater understanding of the play and the philosophical values it subscribed to. Thus it could be argued that it increases our satisfaction and feeling that we have learnt something above and beyond the mere narrative plot.
In addition to this the chorus also has a significant past to play in the expression of the fear and hopes of the populace. An example of this fear shown on the first entrance of the chorus, before the horrific reality as yet known:
I faint for fear, through all my soul, I quiver in suspense, In brooding dread, what doom of present growth, Or as the months roll on, thy hand will work:”
Before the audience would have come to see the play, in the past and the present, they would have known something of what is arguably the most infamous tales in history. The emphasis on the development of not only the conscious but also the subconscious irony in Oedipus adds to its effect on the audience. The chorus through echoing the thoughts of the populace, as demonstrated here, is of paramount importance in its development.
Another role that chorus was given by Sophocles was to heighten the tragic nature, the tension and the overall effect of the play. Throughout many areas in the play we can see the chorus emphasizing certain points that bear real significance in the play. The previous example certain many references to this by emphasizing the futility of the resistance to the omnipotent gods, the chorus heightens the tragic credentials of the play. By also concentrating the plot on a single interest it also again confirms to the theoretical nature of the Greek tragedies.
The chorus intrinsic as the hightener and emphasizes of the tragedy also extends into the other realm of tragic theory. The chorus has a great importance in the structure of Greek tragedy. Infact a Greek tragedy is constructed with reference to the chorus. The ‘Prologue’ is the one, which proceeds the first entry of the chorus, next to it, comes the paradose, which is the song by the chorus as it enters the stage. The action of the play itself is separated by past or episodes or by the songs of the chorus.
It must be understood that from the time of the first entry upto the conclusion of the play the chorus never left the place. Even between the conversation of Queen and King, chorus was there. The chorus never takes a hand in the play but short of this; it contributes to the action of the play in several ways. The Sophoclian chorus is generally a past and paved of the play. This is especially true in Oedipus Rex. As a critic observes: “The chorus in Sophocles play is blended so artistically with the other portions that it adds to the beauty of the whole, without impairing the tragic interest”.
The chorus also helps to add continuity to the plot. When in between individual scenes, an actor needed to change costume, the brief interlude provided by the chorus would help to insure the fluency of the action. By entering and commenting lucidly upon the action and offering new insights the play becomes arguably less erratic and less disjointed.
Another role that has been given to the audience is to question the characters. This help to reveal more about them, and possibly pose the same question that we would want to ask the characters. When the messenger burst onto the stage with the news that “our sacred Queen Jocastas dead,” the immediate reaction of audience is to want to know more. The action of the chorus by posing the obvious question of “How & Why?” increases the rate of movement, as facilitates the plausibility of the plot by allowing Oedipus to offstage mutilating himself.
Anyhow Sophocles proves most successful to plant chorus in the play with some intervals.
The scheme and introduction of the chorus is quite upto the mark and the mood of the chorus also changes with the change in the play. We find the chorus much stronger until the play reaches the peak and as soon as truth about real parentage of Oedipus is exposed, the play comes to a faster end and the chorus at the last concludes the story of the play. Had there been no chorus, the whole plot will never be organized and it would be rather a clumsy package of various episodes.
To sum up we can say, this is only the chorus, which keeps the play light, strong and helps the viewers/readers in maintaining the interest from beginning to the end.
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