Opedius the King

Oedipus has been made King of Thebes in gratitude for his freeing the people from the pestilence brought on them by the presence of the riddling Sphinx. Since Laius, the former king, had shortly before been killed, Oedipus has been further honored by the hand of Queen Jocasta.

Now another deadly pestilence is raging and the people have come to ask Oedipus to rescue them as before. The King has anticipated their need, however. Creon, Jocasta's brother, returns at the very moment from Apollo's oracle with the announcement that all will be well if Laius' murderer be found and cast from the city.

In an effort to discover the murderer, Oedipus sends for the blind seer, Tiresias. Under protest the prophet names Oedipus himself as the criminal. Oedipus, outraged at the accusation, denounces it as a plot of Creon to gain the throne. Jocasta appears just in time to avoid a battle between the two men. Seers, she assures Oedipus, are not infallible. In proof, she cites the old prophecy that her son should kill his father and have children by his mother. She prevented its fulfillment, she confesses, by abandoning their infant son in the mountains. As for Laius, he had been killed by robber's years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi.

This information makes Oedipus uneasy. He recalls having killed a man answering Laius' description at this very spot when he was fleeing from his home in Corinth to avoid fulfillment of a similar prophecy. An aged messenger arrives from Corinth, at this point, to announce the death of King Polybus, supposed father of Oedipus, and the election of Oedipus as king in his stead. On account of the old prophecy Oedipus refuses to return to Corinth until his mother, too, is dead. To calm his fears the messenger assures him that he is not the blood son of Polybus and Merope, but a foundling from the house of Laius deserted in the mountains. This statement is confirmed by the old shepherd whom Jocasta had charged with the task of exposing her babe. Thus the ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in each dreadful detail. Jocasta in her horror hangs herself and Oedipus stabs out his eyes. Then he imposes on himself the penalty of exile, which he had promised for the murderer of Laius.

Fate and the Hero in Oedipus Rex Steve Juanico Introduction to LiteratureDr. Rhoda Sirlin12 December 1998 God. God.Is there a sorrow greater?Where shall I find harbor in this world?My voice is hurled far on a dark wind.What has God done to me?Ð'--Oedipus Let every man in mankind's frailtyConsider his last day; and let nonePresume on his good fortune until he findLife, at his death, a memory without pain.Ð'--Choragos Fate and the Hero in Oedipus Rex My literature professor, Dr. Rhoda Sirlin, asked the class oneSaturday afternoon whether Oedipus was a victim of fate or of hisown actions. I ventured to say that maybe it was his destiny tosuffer, but Dr. Sirlin asked me to explain why Oedipus, in the act ofgouging his eyes out, cries explicitly: No more, no more shall you look on the misery about me, The horrors of my own doing! Too long you have known The faces of those whom I should never have seen, Too long blind to those for whom I was searching! From this hour, go in darkness! (Sophocles 830)Clearly, Dr. Sirlin pointed, Oedipus was aware that he alone wasresponsible for his actions. Moreover, Dr. Sirlin also stressed thefact that if Oedipus was not responsible for his actions, then he couldnot be viewed as a tragic figure since he would be a mere puppet offate or the gods. I was not prepared to argue one so scholarly as theprofessor, so I stayed silent. Roy, the loquacious spokespersonof the class, and the professor then discussed Oedipus's explosivetemper whether it was a tragic flaw or not, as seen in what theprofessor aptly called the earliest recorded incident of "road rage."Dr. Sirlin believed that his volatile temper was one factor thatcontributed to his downfall. I cannot remember now the salient pointsof Roy's argument, but I do recall that I partook in the debate byurging the class to look at Oedipus as a hero who was trying to asserthis rights, as a hero who was trying to defend his honor, when heslew those who violated his right of way on that fateful day where thethree highways came together: There were three highways Coming together at a place I passed; And there a herald came towards me, and a chariot Drawn by horses, with a man such as you describe Seated in it. The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord's command; But as this charioteer lurched over toward me I struck him in my rage. The old man saw me And bought his double goad down upon my head As I came abreast. He was paid back, and more! . . . I killed him. I killed them all. (Sophocles 819) I tried to support my contention by repeating what my historyprofessor, Dr. Martin Pine, taught me about the hero: the hero prizesabove all else his honor and the excellence of his life. When his honoris at stake, all other considerations become irrelevant. My argument, Juanico 2however, failed to sway Dr. Sirlin's opinion in my direction. Sheconcluded that Oedipus's inability to control his violent anger was atragic flaw or what the ancient Greeks called hubris. Two ideas keptrecurring in my mind as the class finally ended that afternoon: fateand the hero. I knew instinctively that the thesis for my paper layburied in those two concepts. After much arduous searching andsleepless nights reading, I now believe that fate victimized Oedipus,but he was a tragic figure since he was not a puppet of fate or thegods. Being a hero, he freely chose to pursue and accept his owndestruction. I will first focus my attention to the ancient Greeks' idea of thehero. The hero is a person who possesses superior qualities of mindand body and who proves his superiority by doing great deeds ofvalor, strength, or intellect. Oedipus was certainly a hero who wasexceptionally intelligent though one can argue that killing four men atPhokis singlehandedly more than qualified him as a physical force to bereckoned with. He undeniably knew his heroic status when he greetedthe supplicating citizens of Thebes before the palace doors saying: "Iwould not have you speak through messengers, and therefore I havecome myself to hear youÐ'--I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name"(Sophocles 801). The priest, speaking in behalf of the sufferingcitizens of Thebes, recognizes Oedipus's heroic qualities when heentreats him