OEDIPUS THE KING

The historical moment that gave rise to the play was the crisis of faith in the gods in fifth-century Greece that was brought about by the rise of rationalism and the pressures of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.), which ended with the surrender of Athens to Sparta and brought an end to the Athenian experiment in direct democracy.

Prophecy was one of the great issues of the day, particularly in the last half of the fifth century B.C. when Athens was undergoing a kind of intellectual revolution. Younger intellectuals had begun to view skeptically any such claims (whereas during the Persian War [479 B.C.], the Spartan infantry at Platea had stood motionless under a withering fire of Persian arrows while their prophets tried to obtain a prediction of their success before the troops were allowed to advance.)

If the rationalist critique of prophecy could be upheld, then the entire archaic form of religion could be demolished. If the gods didn't know the future, then they didn't know any more than any other man.

1. What is the sequence of events in the undoing of Oedipus?

• Laius is warned by Apollo that if he has a son, his son will kill him.
• Laius ignores warning; he has a son, but pierces his ankles and abandons him to die.
• Shepherd gives him to the Corinthian shepherd/messenger who then gives the child to Polybus.
• Oedipus goes to Delphi to learn who his father is; there he learns he will lie with his mother and kill his father.
• Oedipus tries to escape the oracles by fleeing from Corinth.
• Laius is on his way to Delphi when he is met and killed by Oedipus.
• a plague descends on Thebes--the riddling Sphinx.
• Oedipus solves the riddle.
• Shepherd returns to find Oedipus on the throne; he asks to be sent away

. . . MANY YEARS LATER . . .

• another plague descends on the city.
• Creon is sent to Delphi.
• Creon returns with the news that an old defilement is the cause of the pollution.
• Tiresias proclaims Oedipus is the pollutant.
• Oedipus sends for the Shepherd to determine how many men killed Laius.
• Messenger appears with news of Polybus' death. Oedipus thinks he has outwitted the prophecies.
• the true origin of Oedipus is revealed.
• Jocasta hangs herself.
• Oedipus blinds himself.

2. Why introduce all these events in this piecemeal fashion?

It builds suspense; adds irony; but the interlocking pattern of causality also reveals the order of the universe. Sophocles is the first master of dramatic irony: the difference in perspective created when the audience knows more than a character: almost every statement made by Oedipus has a second, more sinister meaning. By manipulating the disparity between what the character knows and what the audience knows, the playwright can emphasize certain ideas

3. What is the tone established in the opening speech by Oedipus?

[first lines are extremely important]

His speech is evidently by a Father to his people; also suggest his pride and confidence in his abilities to solve this crisis

[Creon's answer (ll. 147-48) that their preoccupation with the Sphinx prevented them from investigating the murder of Laius may not account for the delay entirely. Oedipus may be sufficiently ambitious to have accepted the throne without asking too many questions.]

Why is Oedipus's victory over the Sphinx mentioned so often?

The Sphinx was a nightmarish creature. In answering its riddle, he gives an impressive demonstration of the power of the human mind to dispel the darkness of irrationality. This event tremendously impressed Thebes (and . . . Oedipus).

4. How will Oedipus meet the new challenge to Thebes?

"I'll start again--I'll bring it all to light myself!"--l. 150. [already, in fact, he has sent to Delphi to seek an answer]

5. Does his rationalism help him uncover the truth?

In his thoroughness to gather and sift all the evidence--to take every step he can think of--he begins the sequence of events that leads to his illumination.

6. Do the scenes with Tiresias and Creon reveal any character weaknesses?

He is so certain of his abilities and of his goodness that he reacts irrationally when anyone crosses him.

When Tiresias hesitates to reveal his knowledge of events, Oedipus assigns the worst possible motives to him.

One truth that the play demonstrates is that, in human affairs, the simplest, or even the most logical explanation is not necessarily the true one.

II. The Structure of OEDIPUS THE KING

Action (or praxis) in Aristotle's sense of the term does not mean deeds, events, or physical activity--rather it means the motivation from which deeds spring. Thus the action of Oedipus the King arises from Oedipus' need "to find the slayer of Laius"

UNITY OF ACTION:

"As, therefore, in the other imitative arts, the imitation is one when the object imitated is one, so the plot, being an imitation of an action, must imitate one action and that a whole, the structural union of the parts being such that, if any one of them is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and disturbed." (VIII.4).

Aristotle's Poetics makes clear that character is subordinate to action: put another way, plot = character in action:.

ANAGNORISIS: Recognition/Discovery:

"Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from ignorance to knowledge ..." (XI.2).

Oedipus' change from ignorance to knowledge occurs as he cross-examines the Messenger, and then the old shepherd; in this way, we see the whole turn of his inner being from the triumph which seems just ahead to utter despair.

The dramatic excitement of these scenes, as Aristotle tells us, is that Oedipus' discovery or recognition is also his reversal (XI.2).

Note that every event results from one force: his insistent rationalism

• I will bring what is dark to light myself (l. 150)
• after Tiresias' prophecy, he thinks there must be a conspiracy
• Oedipus must send for the messenger
• "I must know it all, must see the truth at last" (l. 1169)

1. What does Oedipus learn? What is his true DISCOVERY?

He is very confident of his own powers to unriddle what is obscure. One of the reassuring things about his character is that he must know, despite the cost. In fact, this is his glory. Life for Oedipus is rational; he can't tolerate mysteries lurking in dark corners.

But he is completely blinded by a full discovery of those things that seem known and familiar--like the events of his life. The dark truth staggers him; it blinds him symbolically--he would rather not know.

2. What is the true riddle of the Sphinx? Does Oedipus have the answer?

The Sphinx's riddle turns upon the question what is man? Oedipus learns something that he didn't know. He attains the wisdom of Tiresias, whose blindness he had mocked, only by becoming blind himself.

3. Are the gods to blame for Oedipus' tragedy?

Apollo, friends, Apollo--

he ordained my agonies--these my pains on pains!

But the hand that struck my eyes was mine,

mine alone--no one else--

I did it all myself! [ll. 1467-73]

Clearly the awe-inspiring presence of the gods is felt throughout the play--the terror of the will of the gods, the power of religious experience [cf. Otto's mystery], is part of the driving force of the play. But Oedipus the King also presents us with a critique of rationalism

4. What role does the Chorus play?

Clearly, they suffer with him; but as our guides they help to direct our attention to the higher truths embodied in their final vision of the human condition (ll. 1678 ff.)

5. What of the Oedipal myth? Freud's complex?

"How many men, in dreams, have lain with their mothers" cf. l. 1075

Freud argued that before the so-called "phallic period" (which starts at age 5) a boy loves his mother yet identifies with his father. When sexual urges increase, the boy's love becomes incestuous and as a result he becomes jealous of his father. If he persists in feeling sexually attracted to the mother, he runs the risk of being physically harmed by the father -- castration anxiety. As a result of castration anxiety, the boy represses his incestuous desire for his mother . . . civilization and its discontent.