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Oedipus Rex: Character is Destiny
“Oedipus Rex” is a tragedy of fate. The crucial events in the play have been pre-determined by fate or the gods. Man seems helpless facing the circumstanceswhich mould his destiny. King Laius was told that his own son by Jocasta wouldkill him. Laius did everything possible to prevent such a disaster. Once Jocastagave birth to a son, Laius had him chained and handed him over to a trustworthyservant with strict orders that the child be exposed on. Mt. Cithaeron and allowedto perish. But the servant, out of compassion, handed over the child to aCorinthian shepherd who passed him on to the Corinthian King. The child grewup as the son of the King and Queen of Corinth and later killed his true father,Laius, in complete ignorance. Apollo’s oracle was fulfilled even though Laius andJocasta took the extreme step to escape the fate foretold by the oracle.Oedipus had also to submit to the destiny which Apollo's oracle pronounced for him. He learnt from the oracle that he would kill his own father and marry his ownmother. He, too, tried his utmost to avert a terrible fate and fled from Corinth. Hiswanderings took him to Thebes, where people were facing a great misfortune.King Laius had been killed and the city was in the grip of the Sphinx, who wascausing a lot of destruction because nobody was able to solve her riddle.Oedipus solved the riddle and put an end to the monster. Oedipus was joyfullyreceived by Theban people as their King and was given Laius’s widow as hiswife. Thus, in complete ignorance of the identity of his parents, he killed hisfather and married his mother. He performed these disastrous acts not onlyunknowingly, but as a result of his efforts to escape the cruel fate which theoracle at had communicated to him.It is evident that the occurrences which bring about the tragedy in the life of Laius, Oedipus, and Jocasta are the work of that mysterious supernatural power called fate or destiny or be given the name of Apollo. This supernatural power had pre-determined certain tragic events and even informed the human beings inadvance. These human beings take whatever measures, to avert those events;and yet things turn out exactly as they had been foretold by the oracles. Oedipushas done nothing at all to deserve the fate which overtakes him. Nor do Laiusand Jocasta deserve the fate they meet. According to Aristotle the tragic hero is a prosperous man who falls intomisfortune due to some serious defect or hamartia. No doubt that Oedipus is anable ruler, a father of his people, a great administrator and an outstandingintellect. His chief care is not for himself but for the people of the State. Thepeople look upon him as their savior and worshipped him. He is also a religiousman in the orthodox sense. That such a man should meet the sad fate isunbearably painful to us.Oedipus is not, however, a perfect man or a perfect King. He does suffer from ahamartia or a defect of character. He is hot-tempered, rash, hasty in judgments,easily provoked and somewhat arbitrary. Though in the beginning his attitudetowards Teiresias is one of reverence, he quickly loses his temper and speaks tothe prophet in an insulting manner accusing both him and Creon of treason and showing a blind suspicion towards friends. His position and authority seem to beleading him to become a tyrant. Creon has to remind him that the city does notbelong to him alone. Even when blinded he draws the reproach:“Do not crave to be master in everything always.” All this shows that Oedipus is not a man of a flawless character, not completelyfree from faults, not an embodiment of all the virtues. His pride in his own wisdomis one of his glaring faults. His success in solving the riddle of the Sphinx further developed his inherent feeling of pride. There is in him a failure of piety even.Under the influence of Jocasta, he grows sceptical of the oracles. Thus there is inhim a lack of true wisdom which took him on the verge of becoming an impioustyrant.If Oedipus had not been hot-tempered, he might not have got entangled in a fighton the road and might have not been guilty of murdering his father. Similarly, if hehad been a little more cautious, he might have hesitated to marry a woman oldenough to be his mother. After all there was no compulsion either in the fight or inhis marriage. Both his acts may thus be attributed to his own defects of character. All at once it has to be accepted that the decree of the oracles wereinescapable. Even if Oedipus had taken the precautions, the prophecy was to befulfilled. The oracle’s prediction was unconditional; it did not say that if Oedipusdid such and such a thing he would kill his father and marry his mother. Theoracle simply said that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Whatthe oracle said, was bound to happen.
If Oedipus is the innocent victim of inescapable doom, he would be a merepuppet and the play becomes a tragedy of destiny which denies human freedom.Sophocles does not want to regard Oedipus as a puppet; there is reason tobelieve that Oedipus has been portrayed largely as a free agent. The attendant inthe play insistently describes Oedipus’ self-blinding as voluntary anddistinguishes it from his involuntary murder of his father and marriage with hismother. Oedipus’ actions were fate-bound, but everything that he does, he doesas a free agent – his condemnation of Teiresias and Creon, his conversation withJocasta to reveal the facts, his pursuing his investigation despite the efforts of Jocasta and the Theban shepherd to stop him, and so on. Oedipus, freelychoosing a series of actions, led to his own ruin. Oedipus could have left theplague to take its course but his pity over the sufferings of his people forced himto consult the oracle. He could have left the murder of Laius uninvestigated, buthis love of justice obliged him to inquire. He need not have forced the truth fromthe reluctant Theban shepherd but he could not rest content with a lie. Teiresias,Jocasta, the Theban shepherd each tried to stop Oedipus, but he wasdetermined to solve the problem of his own parentage. The direct cause of hisruin is not fate; no oracle said that he must discover the truth. Still less does thecause of his ruin lie in his own weakness. His own strength and courage, hisloyalty to Thebes and his love of truth causes his ruin. All this shows him a free agent.In spite of the facts that Oedipus is a free agent in most of his actions, still themost tragic events of his life – his murder of his father and his marriage with hismother – had inevitably to happen. Here the responsibility of fate cannot bedenied. The real tragedy lies in the discovery of truth, which is due to his owntraits. If he had not discovered the truth, he would have continued to live in astate of blissful ignorance and there would have been no tragedy and nosuffering. But the parricide and the incest were pre-ordained and for these fate isresponsible.
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“Oedipus Rex” is a tragedy of fate. The crucial events in the play have been pre-determined by fate or the gods. Man seems helpless facing the circumstanceswhich mould his destiny. King Laius was told that his own son by Jocasta wouldkill him. Laius did everything possible to prevent such a disaster. Once Jocastagave birth to a son, Laius had him chained and handed him over to a trustworthyservant with strict orders that the child be exposed on. Mt. Cithaeron and allowedto perish. But the servant, out of compassion, handed over the child to aCorinthian shepherd who passed him on to the Corinthian King. The child grewup as the son of the King and Queen of Corinth and later killed his true father,Laius, in complete ignorance. Apollo’s oracle was fulfilled even though Laius andJocasta took the extreme step to escape the fate foretold by the oracle.Oedipus had also to submit to the destiny which Apollo's oracle pronounced for him. He learnt from the oracle that he would kill his own father and marry his ownmother. He, too, tried his utmost to avert a terrible fate and fled from Corinth. Hiswanderings took him to Thebes, where people were facing a great misfortune.King Laius had been killed and the city was in the grip of the Sphinx, who wascausing a lot of destruction because nobody was able to solve her riddle.Oedipus solved the riddle and put an end to the monster. Oedipus was joyfullyreceived by Theban people as their King and was given Laius’s widow as hiswife. Thus, in complete ignorance of the identity of his parents, he killed hisfather and married his mother. He performed these disastrous acts not onlyunknowingly, but as a result of his efforts to escape the cruel fate which theoracle at had communicated to him.It is evident that the occurrences which bring about the tragedy in the life of Laius, Oedipus, and Jocasta are the work of that mysterious supernatural power called fate or destiny or be given the name of Apollo. This supernatural power had pre-determined certain tragic events and even informed the human beings inadvance. These human beings take whatever measures, to avert those events;and yet things turn out exactly as they had been foretold by the oracles. Oedipushas done nothing at all to deserve the fate which overtakes him. Nor do Laiusand Jocasta deserve the fate they meet. According to Aristotle the tragic hero is a prosperous man who falls intomisfortune due to some serious defect or hamartia. No doubt that Oedipus is anable ruler, a father of his people, a great administrator and an outstandingintellect. His chief care is not for himself but for the people of the State. Thepeople look upon him as their savior and worshipped him. He is also a religiousman in the orthodox sense. That such a man should meet the sad fate isunbearably painful to us.Oedipus is not, however, a perfect man or a perfect King. He does suffer from ahamartia or a defect of character. He is hot-tempered, rash, hasty in judgments,easily provoked and somewhat arbitrary. Though in the beginning his attitudetowards Teiresias is one of reverence, he quickly loses his temper and speaks tothe prophet in an insulting manner accusing both him and Creon of treason and showing a blind suspicion towards friends. His position and authority seem to beleading him to become a tyrant. Creon has to remind him that the city does notbelong to him alone. Even when blinded he draws the reproach:“Do not crave to be master in everything always.” All this shows that Oedipus is not a man of a flawless character, not completelyfree from faults, not an embodiment of all the virtues. His pride in his own wisdomis one of his glaring faults. His success in solving the riddle of the Sphinx further developed his inherent feeling of pride. There is in him a failure of piety even.Under the influence of Jocasta, he grows sceptical of the oracles. Thus there is inhim a lack of true wisdom which took him on the verge of becoming an impioustyrant.If Oedipus had not been hot-tempered, he might not have got entangled in a fighton the road and might have not been guilty of murdering his father. Similarly, if hehad been a little more cautious, he might have hesitated to marry a woman oldenough to be his mother. After all there was no compulsion either in the fight or inhis marriage. Both his acts may thus be attributed to his own defects of character. All at once it has to be accepted that the decree of the oracles wereinescapable. Even if Oedipus had taken the precautions, the prophecy was to befulfilled. The oracle’s prediction was unconditional; it did not say that if Oedipusdid such and such a thing he would kill his father and marry his mother. Theoracle simply said that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Whatthe oracle said, was bound to happen.
If Oedipus is the innocent victim of inescapable doom, he would be a merepuppet and the play becomes a tragedy of destiny which denies human freedom.Sophocles does not want to regard Oedipus as a puppet; there is reason tobelieve that Oedipus has been portrayed largely as a free agent. The attendant inthe play insistently describes Oedipus’ self-blinding as voluntary anddistinguishes it from his involuntary murder of his father and marriage with hismother. Oedipus’ actions were fate-bound, but everything that he does, he doesas a free agent – his condemnation of Teiresias and Creon, his conversation withJocasta to reveal the facts, his pursuing his investigation despite the efforts of Jocasta and the Theban shepherd to stop him, and so on. Oedipus, freelychoosing a series of actions, led to his own ruin. Oedipus could have left theplague to take its course but his pity over the sufferings of his people forced himto consult the oracle. He could have left the murder of Laius uninvestigated, buthis love of justice obliged him to inquire. He need not have forced the truth fromthe reluctant Theban shepherd but he could not rest content with a lie. Teiresias,Jocasta, the Theban shepherd each tried to stop Oedipus, but he wasdetermined to solve the problem of his own parentage. The direct cause of hisruin is not fate; no oracle said that he must discover the truth. Still less does thecause of his ruin lie in his own weakness. His own strength and courage, hisloyalty to Thebes and his love of truth causes his ruin. All this shows him a free agent.In spite of the facts that Oedipus is a free agent in most of his actions, still themost tragic events of his life – his murder of his father and his marriage with hismother – had inevitably to happen. Here the responsibility of fate cannot bedenied. The real tragedy lies in the discovery of truth, which is due to his owntraits. If he had not discovered the truth, he would have continued to live in astate of blissful ignorance and there would have been no tragedy and nosuffering. But the parricide and the incest were pre-ordained and for these fate isresponsible.
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