Who is sophocles in oedipus the king

I could not bear to. If you want proof of this, then go to Delphi. Ask the prophet if I brought back to you exactly what was said. Do not condemn me on an unproved charge. Give it some time. A bad man is exposed in just one day. Those who are unreliable give rash advice. I want you to die, not just run off— so I can demonstrate what envy means.

I see Jocasta coming from the palace, and just in time. With her assistance you should bring this quarrel to a close. You, Oedipus, go in the house, and you, Creon, return to yours. Why inflate a trivial matter into something huge? Lady, I caught him committing treason, an vicious crime against me personally. Respect that oath he made before all heaven— do it for my sake and for those around you.

I understand. May I die the most miserable of deaths, abandoned by the gods and by my friends, if I have ever harboured such a thought! But the destruction of our land wears down my troubled heart—and so does this quarrel, if you two add new problems to the ones which have for so long been afflicting us. But if he stays here, he will be hateful to me.

But men like that find it most difficult to tolerate themselves. CHORUS LEADER My lord, I have declared it more than once, [] so you must know it would have been quite mad if I abandoned you, who, when this land, my cherished Thebes, was in great trouble, set it right again and who, in these harsh times should prove a trusty and successful guide.

He conspired against me. Tell me. He set up that treasonous prophet. What he says himself all sounds quite innocent. It said Laius was fated to be killed by a child of ours, one born to him and me. Now, at least according to the story, one day Laius was killed by foreigners, by robbers, at a place where three roads meet. Besides, before our child was three days old, Laius pinned his ankles tight together and ordered other men to throw him out on a mountain rock where no one ever goes.

Whatever gods intend to bring about they themselves make known quite easily. Where did it happen? Two roads lead there— one from Delphi and one from Daulia. What have you planned for me? Why is your spirit so troubled? Tell me this—Laius, how tall was he? How old a man? In shape he was not all that unlike you. I may have set myself under a dreadful curse without my knowledge!

As I look at you, my king, I start to tremble. But you can reveal this better if you now will tell me one thing more. A carriage carried Laius. Lady, who told you this? He came back here. Once he returned and understood that you had now assumed the power of slaughtered Laius , he clasped my hands, begged me to send him off [] to where our animals graze in the fields, so he could be as far away as possible from the sight of town.

And so I sent him. He deserved an even greater favour. But now, my lord, I deserve to know why you are so distressed. OEDIPUS My forebodings now have grown so great I will not keep them from you, for who is there I should confide in rather than in you about such a twisted turn of fortune. My father was Polybus of Corinth, my mother Merope , a Dorian.

There I was regarded as the finest man in all the city, until, as chance would have it, something most astonishing took place, though it was not worth what it made me to do. The next day I went to ask my parents, my father and mother. They were angry at the man who had insulted them this way, so I was reassured. But nonetheless, the accusation always troubled me— the story had become known everywhere.

And so I went in secret off to Delphi. When I heard that, I ran away from Corinth. From then on I thought of it just as a place beneath the stars. I went to other lands, so I would never see that prophecy fulfilled, the abomination of my evil fate. In my travelling I came across that place in which you say your king was murdered. And now, lady, I will tell you the truth.

The guide there tried to force me off the road— and the old man, too, got personally involved. In my rage, I lashed out at the driver, who was shoving me aside. The old man, seeing me walking past him in the carriage, kept his eye on me, and with his double whip struck me on the head, right here on top. Well, I retaliated in good measure— [] with the staff I held I hit him a quick blow and knocked him from his carriage to the road.

He lay there on his back. Then I killed them all. If that stranger was somehow linked to Laius, who is now more unfortunate than me? What man could be more hateful to the gods? Instead, they must keep him from their doors, a curse I laid upon myself. Am I not depraved? Am I not utterly abhorrent? Now I must fly into exile and there, a fugitive, never see my people, never set foot in my native land again— or else I must get married to my mother and kill my father, Polybus , who raised me, the man who gave me life.

If anyone claimed this came from some malevolent god, would he not be right? O you gods, you pure, blessed gods, may I not see that day! But you must sustain your hope until you hear the servant who was present at the time. If he still says that there were several men, then I was not the killer, since one man could never be mistaken for a crowd.

But if he says it was a single man, the scales of justice guilt sink down on me. He cannot now withdraw what he once said. The whole city heard him, not just me alone. As far as these predictions go, from now on I would not look for confirmation anywhere. But nonetheless, send for that peasant. CHORUS I pray fate still finds me worthy, demonstrating piety and reverence in all I say and do—in everything our loftiest traditions consecrate, those laws engendered in the heavenly skies, whose only father is Olympus.

They were not born from mortal men, nor will they sleep and be forgotten. But I pray the god never will abolish the type of rivalry that helps our state. But if a man conducts himself disdainfully in what he says and does, and manifests no fear of righteousness, no reverence for the statues of the gods, may miserable fate seize such a man for his disastrous arrogance, if he does not behave with justice [] when he strives to benefit himself, appropriates all things impiously, and, like a fool, profanes the sacred.

What man is there who does such things who can still claim he will ward off the arrow of the gods aimed at his heart? If such actions are considered worthy, why should we dance to honour god? But you, all-conquering, all-ruling Zeus, if by right those names belong to you, let this not evade you and your ageless might. For ancient oracles which dealt with Laius are withering—men now set them aside.

Nowhere is Apollo honoured publicly, and our religious faith is dying away. Instead he listens to whoever speaks to him of dreadful things. I can do nothing more with my advice, and so, Lyceian Apollo, I come to you, who stand here beside us, a suppliant, [] with offerings and prayers for you to find some way of cleansing what corrupts us.

For now we are afraid, just like those who on a ship see their helmsman terrified. Better yet, if you know, can you tell me where he is? This lady is the mother of his children. Your fine words make you deserve as much. But tell us now why you have come. Do you seek information, or do you wish to give us some report? Where have you come from? How can it have two such effects at once?

Is old man Polybus no longer king? He is dead and in his grave. O you oracles of the gods, so much for you. Oedipus has for so long been afraid that he would murder him. He ran away. And now Polybus has died, killed by Fate and not by Oedipus. JOCASTA You must hear this man, and as you listen, decide for yourself what these prophecies, these solemn proclamations from the gods, amount to.

What report does he have for me? Stranger, let me hear from you in person. For they foretold that I was going to murder my own father. I never touched my spear. Polybus has taken them to Hades, where he lies. JOCASTA Why should a man whose life seems ruled by chance live in fear—a man who never looks ahead, who has no certain vision of his future?

Do not worry you will wed your mother. But I do fear that lady—she is still alive. Or something private, which other people have no right to know? In the name of all the gods, tell me. That was my constant fear. If I was born their child. Was not Polybus my father? I gave you to him. How could he if I came from someone else? But at that time I was the one who saved you.

Why mention that? I set them free. The man who gave you to me knows more of that than I do. Another shepherd gave you to me. Who was he? Do you know? Can you tell me any details, things you are quite sure of? Can I still see him? Have you seen him, either in the fields or here in Thebes? Answer me. But of this Jocasta could tell more than anyone.

Is he the one this messenger refers to? Forget all that. I must reveal the details of my birth. If you have [] some concern for your own life, then stop! Do not keep on investigating this. Even if I should turn out to be born from a shameful mother, whose family for three generations have been slaves, you will still have your noble lineage. Do not do this.

May you never find out who you really are! Leave the lady to enjoy her noble line. I fear a disastrous storm will soon break through her silence. As for myself, no matter how base born my family, I wish to know the seed from where I came. Perhaps my queen is now ashamed of me and of my insignificant origin— she likes to play the noble lady.

But I will never feel myself dishonoured. I cannot prove false to my own nature, nor can I ever cease from seeking out the facts of my own birth. O Phoebus, we cry out to you— may our song fill you with delight! Who gave birth to you, my child? Which one of the immortal gods bore you to your father Pan, [] who roams the mountainsides?

Was it some bedmate of Apollo, the god who loves all country fields? Or was it the Bacchanalian god dwelling on the mountain tops who took you as a new-born joy from maiden nymphs of Helicon with whom he often romps and plays? And I know the people coming with him, servants of mine. He worked for Laius—a trusty shepherd. Look at me.

Now answer what I ask. Some time ago did you work for Laius? But I was not bought. I grew up in his house. What was the work you did? In what specific places? What man do you mean? Have you ever met him before? Let me refresh his failing memory. I think he will remember all too well the time we spent around Cithaeron. He had two flocks of sheep and I had one.

But it was long ago. Now, tell me if you recall how you gave me a child, an infant boy, for me to raise as my own foster son. Why ask about that? What you have said is more objectionable than his account. What is it you want to know? Everything is at last revealed, and Oedipus curses himself and fate before leaving the stage. The chorus laments how even a great man can be felled by fate, and following this, a servant exits the palace to speak of what has happened inside.

Jocasta has hanged herself in her bedchamber. Entering the palace in anguish, Oedipus called on his servants to bring him a sword, that he might slay Jocasta with his own hand. But upon discovering the lifeless queen, Oedipus took her down, and removing the long gold pins from her dress, he gouged out his own eyes in despair. The blinded king now exits the palace, and begs to be exiled.

Creon enters, saying that Oedipus shall be taken into the house until oracles can be consulted regarding what is best to be done. Oedipus's two daughters and half-sisters , Antigone and Ismene , are sent out and Oedipus laments their having been born to such a cursed family. He begs Creon to watch over them, in hopes that they will live where there is opportunity for them, and to have a better life than their father.

Creon agrees, before sending Oedipus back into the palace. On an empty stage, the chorus repeats the common Greek maxim that "no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead. The two cities of Troy and Thebes were the major focus of Greek epic poetry. The events surrounding the Trojan War were chronicled in the Epic Cycle , of which much remains, and those about Thebes in the Theban Cycle , which have been lost.

The Theban Cycle recounted the sequence of tragedies that befell the house of Laius , of which the story of Oedipus is a part. Homer 's Odyssey XI. Homer briefly summarises the story of Oedipus, including the incest, patricide, and Jocasta's subsequent suicide. However, in the Homeric version, Oedipus remains King of Thebes after the revelation and neither blinds himself, nor is sent into exile.

In particular, it is said that the gods made the matter of his paternity known, whilst in Oedipus the King , Oedipus very much discovers the truth himself. Since he did not write connected trilogies as Aeschylus did, Oedipus Rex focuses on the titular character while hinting at the larger myth obliquely, which was already known to the audience in Athens at the time.

The trilogy containing Oedipus Rex took second prize in the City Dionysia at its original performance. Aeschylus's nephew Philocles took first prize at that competition. Many modern critics agree with Aristotle on the quality of Oedipus Rex , even if they don't always agree on the reasons.

Who is sophocles in oedipus the king

No other shows an equal degree of art in the development of the plot; and this excellence depends on the powerful and subtle drawing of the characters. Kitto said about Oedipus Rex that "it is true to say that the perfection of its form implies a world order," although Kitto notes that whether or not that world order "is beneficent, Sophocles does not say.

The science revolution attributed to Thales began gaining political force, and this play offered a warning to the new thinkers. Kitto interprets the play as Sophocles' retort to the sophists , by dramatizing a situation in which humans face undeserved suffering through no fault of their own, but despite the apparent randomness of the events, the fact that they have been prophesied by the gods implies that the events are not random, despite the reasons being beyond human comprehension.

What is right is to recognize facts and not delude ourselves. The universe is a unity; if, sometimes, we can see neither rhyme nor reason in it we should not suppose it is random. There is so much that we cannot know and cannot control that we should not think and behave as if we do know and can control. Oedipus Rex is widely regarded as one of the greatest plays, stories, and tragedies ever written.

Fate is a motif that often occurs in Greek writing, tragedies in particular. Likewise, where the attempt to avoid an oracle is the very thing that enables it to happen is common to many Greek myths. For example, similarities to Oedipus can be seen in the myth of Perseus ' birth. Two oracles in particular dominate the plot of Oedipus Rex. Jocasta relates the prophecy that was told to Laius before the birth of Oedipus lines —4 :.

The oracle told to Laius tells only of the patricide , whereas the incest is missing. Prompted by Jocasta's recollection, Oedipus reveals the prophecy which caused him to leave Corinth lines —3 :. The implication of Laius's oracle is ambiguous. One interpretation considers that the presentation of Laius's oracle in this play differs from that found in Aeschylus 's Oedipus trilogy produced in BC.

Smith argues that "Sophocles had the option of making the oracle to Laius conditional if Laius has a son, that son will kill him or unconditional Laius will have a son who will kill him. Both Aeschylus and Euripides write plays in which the oracle is conditional; Sophocles Other scholars have nonetheless argued that Sophocles follows tradition in making Laius's oracle conditional, and thus avoidable.

They point to Jocasta's initial disclosure of the oracle at lines — Whatever the meaning of Laius's oracle, the one delivered to Oedipus is clearly unconditional. Given the modern conception of fate and fatalism , readers of the play have a tendency to view Oedipus as a mere puppet controlled by greater forces; a man crushed by the gods and fate for no good reason.

This, however, is not an entirely accurate reading. While it is a mythological truism that oracles exist to be fulfilled, oracles do not cause the events that lead up to the outcome. Dodds draws upon Bernard Knox 's comparison with Jesus ' prophecy at the Last Supper that Peter would deny him three times. Jesus knows that Peter will do this, but readers would in no way suggest that Peter was a puppet of fate being forced to deny Christ.

Free will and predestination are by no means mutually exclusive, and such is the case with Oedipus. The oracle delivered to Oedipus is what is often called a " self-fulfilling prophecy ," whereby a prophecy itself sets in motion events that conclude with its own fulfilment. The oracle inspires a series of specific choices, freely made by Oedipus, which lead him to kill his father and marry his mother.

Oedipus chooses not to return to Corinth after hearing the oracle, just as he chooses to head toward Thebes, to kill Laius, and to take Jocasta specifically as his wife. In response to the plague at Thebes, he chooses to send Creon to the Oracle for advice and then to follow that advice, initiating the investigation into Laius' murder. None of these choices are predetermined.

Another characteristic of oracles in myth is that they are almost always misunderstood by those who hear them; hence Oedipus misunderstanding the significance of the Delphic Oracle. He visits Delphi to find out who his real parents are and assumes that the Oracle refuses to answer that question, offering instead an unrelated prophecy which forecasts patricide and incest.

Oedipus' assumption is incorrect: the Oracle does, in a way, answer his question. On closer analysis, the oracle contains essential information which Oedipus seems to neglect. The wording of the Oracle: "I was doomed to be murderer of the father that begot me" refers to Oedipus' real, biological father. Likewise the mother with polluted children is defined as the biological one.

The wording of the drunken guest on the other hand: "you are not your father's son" defines Polybus as only a foster father to Oedipus. The two wordings support each other and point to the "two sets of parents" alternative. Thus the question of two sets of parents, biological and foster, is raised. Oedipus' reaction to the Oracle is irrational: he states he did not get any answer and he flees in a direction away from Corinth, showing that he firmly believed at the time that Polybus and Merope are his real parents.

The scene with the drunken guest constitutes the end of Oedipus' childhood. He can no longer ignore a feeling of uncertainty about his parentage. However, after consulting the Oracle this uncertainty disappears, strangely enough, and is replaced by a totally unjustified certainty that he is the son of Merope and Polybus. We have said that this irrational behaviour—his hamartia , as Aristotle puts it—is due to the repression of a whole series of thoughts in his consciousness, in fact everything that referred to his earlier doubts about his parentage.

The exploration of the theme of state control in Oedipus Rex is paralleled by the examination of the conflict between the individual and the state in Antigone. The dilemma that Oedipus faces here is similar to that of the tyrannical Creon : each man has, as king, made a decision that his subjects question or disobey; and each king misconstrues both his own role as a sovereign and the role of the rebel.

When informed by the blind prophet Tiresias that religious forces are against him, each king claims that the priest has been corrupted. It is here, however, that their similarities come to an end: while Creon sees the havoc he has wreaked and tries to amend his mistakes, Oedipus refuses to listen to anyone. Sophocles uses dramatic irony to present the downfall of Oedipus.

At the beginning of the story, Oedipus is portrayed as "self-confident, intelligent and strong willed. One of the most significant instances of irony in this tragedy is when Tiresias hints to Oedipus what he has done; that he has slain his own father and married his own mother lines —60 : [ 30 ]. To his children he will discover that he is both brother and father.

To the woman who gave birth to him he is son and husband and to his father, both, a sharer of his bed and his murderer. Go into your palace then, king Oedipus and think about these things and if you find me a liar then you can truly say I know nothing of prophecies. The audience knows the truth and what would be the fate of Oedipus. Oedipus, on the other hand, chooses to deny the reality that has confronted him.

He ignores the word of Tiresias and continues on his journey to find the supposed killer. His search for a murderer is yet another instance of irony. I hereby call down curses on this killer This too I pray: Though he be of my house, if I learn of it, and let him still remain, may I receive the curse I have laid on others. This is ironic as Oedipus is, as he discovers, the slayer of Laius, and the curse he wishes upon the killer, he has actually wished upon himself.

He is unaware that he is the one polluting agent he seeks to punish. He has inadequate knowledge Literal and metaphorical references to eyesight appear throughout Oedipus Rex. Clear vision serves as a metaphor for insight and knowledge , yet the clear-eyed Oedipus is blind to the truth about his origins and inadvertent crimes. The prophet Tiresias , on the other hand, although literally blind, "sees" the truth and relays what is revealed to him.

Only after Oedipus gouges out his own eyes, physically blinding himself, does he gain prophetic ability, as exhibited in Oedipus at Colonus. It is deliberately ironic that the "seer" can "see" better than Oedipus, despite being blind. Since you have chosen to insult my blindness— you have your eyesight, and you do not see how miserable you are, or where you live, or who it is who shares your household.

Do you know the family you come from? Oedipus switches back and forth calling Laius a tyrant lines — [ 33 ] and a king lines — [ 33 ] throughout the duration of the play. This is done as a way to make Laius his equal in terms of ruling. Laius was a legitimate king, whereas Oedipus had no legitimate claim to rule. Oedipus's claims of calling Laius a tyrant hint at his own insecurities of being a tyrant.

Sigmund Freud wrote a notable passage in Interpretation of Dreams regarding the destiny of Oedipus, as well as the Oedipus complex. It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. Our dreams convince us that this is so.

In her article, Oedipal Textuality: Reading Freud's Reading of Oedipus, Cynthia Chase explains Oedipus Rex as a story of psychoanalysis in relation to the riddles in the story and Oedipus trying to uncover his truth. The Parsifal story is the "reverse" of the Oedipus myth cf. In this version, the entire play is performed by the cast in masks Greek: prosopon , as actors did in ancient Greek theatre.

In his dying moments, the hapless villain realises that, in seeking to avert the prophecy, he had, in fact, helped it to come true. This is similar to the story of Oedipus the King. Oedipus heard the prophecy that he would one day murder his father and marry his mother, and so fled from his presumed parents so as to avoid fulfilling the prophecy.

Such an act seems noble and it was jolly bad luck that fate had decreed that Oedipus would turn out to be a foundling and his real parents were still out there for him to bump into. The clues were already there that Oedipus was actually adopted: when he received the prophecy from the oracle, a drunk told him as much. But, as the Latin phrase has it, in vino veritas.

What does all this mean, when we stop and analyse it in terms of the interplay between fate and personal actions in Oedipus the King? It means that Sophocles was aware of something which governs all our lives. A thief steals your wallet and you never see him, or your wallet, again. Did the criminal get away with it? Yet works of art are always opening themselves up to new readings which see them reflecting our changing and evolving moral beliefs, and that is perhaps why Oedipus the King remains a great play to read, watch, analyse, and discuss.

There remains something unsettling about its plot structure and its ambiguous meaning, and that is what lends it its power. The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University.