3. One of the three great writers of tragedies in ancient Greece,
Sophocles [496?- 406 BCE] was born in Colonus, near Athens,
into a well-to-do family. Well educated, he first won public
acclaim as a tragic poet at the age of 27, in 468 BCE when he
defeated Aeschylus in competition for writing a tragic play. He is
said to have written some 120 plays, but only seven tragedies are
extant: among then are Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus at
Colonus. He died, much honored, in his ninetieth year, in
Athens, where he had lived his entire life
5. Oedipus Rex was the unfortunate protagonist who
took part in one of the greatest tragedies of Greek
Mythology.
The famous play about a man who kills his father
and marries his mother.
6. If there was ever a story about inescapable fate, the myth of
Oedipus Rex is the original demonstration. The myth begins with a
prophecy, and the attempt to escape it, and finally its inevitable
manifestation. Fate, to the ancient Greeks, was an unavoidable
concept. While prophecies were open to interpretation and could
turn out in different ways, they would always, always, come about
in some way.
7.
8. Fate and Birth are two concepts that were intertwined in
ancient Greek culture. The Greeks believed that when
one was born, their soul was set for a particular destiny.
The three Greek Fates or Moirai, represented this idea of
destiny. Together these goddesses weaved a thread of
fate for each life when a human was born.
Oedipus Rex: The Beginning
9. The thread represented the path, destiny, and life of a person. The
Fates (Moirai) would determine what events would happen in each
thread. There was agency, of course, but the key events of a life
would remain the same, no matter the choices that were made to
lead the person to that point. The Moirai would then cut the thread
at the point when the person would die.
10. For Oedipus Rex, his string of Fate had some terrors woven into it. When he was
born, his parents were told a prophecy that their son would grow up to kill his
father, Laius. Laius and his wife Jocasta were the King and Queen of Thebes.
Horrified at this prophecy of patricide, the parents decided to abandon the baby.
In ancient Greek culture, the act of “exposure” involved leaving a baby in
a remote location and letting nature decide whether the baby would
survive or not. This was a way of avoiding the outright killing a child while
still removing the baby from the family. Oedipus Rex himself, was left in
the bough of a tree.
11. However, Oedipus was not fated by the Moirai to die in the high mountains of
Greece. The shepherd who had been ordered to expose the baby did not have
the heart to do it. Instead, he took the baby from the tree. Then, he gave the
baby to a messenger, who then took the baby to the nearby Kingdom of
Corinth. Coincidentally, the King and Queen there were wanting to adopt a
child, and so they took in Oedipus. The identity of Oedipus was to remain a
secret, even to his adoptive parents. Even the shepherd had not known whom
he was to expose!
Saved by the Shepherd
12. The myth of Oedipus is recorded in Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King. In the
play, the shepherd tells of his pity for the abandoned baby and his hope of
saving him. Yet, the shepherd later is horrified at the fallout: how the saving of a
child created a dreadfully disastrous future…
“Shepherd.
O King, I pitied him [the baby].
I thought the man [messenger] would save him to some dim
And distant land, beyond all fear…. And he,
To worse than death, did save him!… Verily,
If thou art he whom this man telleth of,
To sore affliction thou art born.”
13. Oedipus Rex and the First Mistake
When Oedipus had grown into a young man, he soon heard of a
prophecy about himself… He was fated to kill his father, and then
marry his mother. Oedipus, wishing to avoid this fate at all costs,
decided to leave Corinth. He still did not know, however, that the
King and Queen of Corinth were not in fact his biological parents.
On the road, Oedipus got into a violent spat with another traveler. A
form of ancient road rage, if you will. Oedipus killed the traveler, and
continued his journey. Unbeknownst to him, Oedipus had just
fulfilled the first part of the prophecy and killed his true biological
father. For indeed, Laius was the traveler.
14. Thebes and the Sphinx
Oedipus’ travels eventually took him to Thebes. Thebes
was being plagued by a bloodthirsty Sphinx. This
Sphinx had been killing the people of Thebes randomly
and spouting violent riddles of death. If you could not
answer the riddle correctly, you would be devoured by
the Sphinx.
King Laius had been on the road to Delphi, where a famous Oracle
took up residence. The Oracle would have had the power to advise
and help the King of Thebes with his problem. However, Laius had
been killed by Oedipus on the way.
15. Thebes and the Sphinx
And now, Oedipus came to Thebes. There, the people were
mourning their king, who had “been killed by robbers”. They
were also still being terrorized by the Sphinx. Oedipus, a young
prince of Corinth, offered to face the Sphinx and try to solve the
riddle.
16. Thebes and the Sphinx
And now, Oedipus came to Thebes. There, the people were
mourning their king, who had “been killed by robbers”. They
were also still being terrorized by the Sphinx. Oedipus, a young
prince of Corinth, offered to face the Sphinx and try to solve the
riddle.
17. Oedipus Rex and the Sphinx
When Oedipus did face the Sphinx, he was given a clever puzzle:
The Sphinx asked, “What walks on four feet in the
morning, two in the afternoon and three at night?”
And Oedipus answered: “Man: as an infant, he crawls
on all fours; as an adult, he walks on two legs and; in
old age, he uses a walking stick”.
18. Oedipus Rex and the Sphinx
Oedipus was correct! And so the Sphinx killed herself.
Returning to the palace, Oedipus showed his sympathy
for the mourning Queen Jocasta, who had just lost her
husband. However, Oedipus’ success in ridding Thebes
of the monster had given him the right to marry Jocasta
as a Theban prize for defeating the Sphinx. And so,
part two was complete. Oedipus had just married his
biological mother. Prophecy complete…
19. The Curse on the Family
Oedipus and Jocasta had four children together. Two
daughters, whose names were Antigone and Ismene
and two sons, whose names were Eteocles and
Polynices. Oedipus’ family had their fair share of
disasters, but it all stemmed from a curse on Laius.
Eteocles and Polynices were to become bitter enemies
and tear the city apart in a civil war,
and Antigone would end her own life in a defiant,
rebellious move against the state.
20. The Curse on the Family
Laius, the father of Oedipus and first husband of
Jocasta, had made some bad choices in his early
years as a young man. These actions caused a curse
to be placed upon Laius and his descendants. Laius
had two brothers, and not much is known about
Laius’ mother, but his father, Labdacus, was King of
Thebes. Labdacus died when his sons were very
young, and so Lycus became their guardian and also
the regent of Thebes.
21. The Curse on the Family
However, Laius’ brothers resented the regent, and so
they killed him. After the attack, the city was very
divided, but Laius was protected by some of the
Thebans, and so he was taken to King Pelops in the
Peloponnese. Here, Laius grew up under the care of
Pelops and his family. However, when Laius was a
young man he raped Pelops’ son, Chrysippus, and
he was turned out of Pelops’ home for his crime.
22. The Curse on the Family
When Laius returned to Thebes, his brothers had
died, so he was able to take back the throne of
Thebes. His return home would be plagued by his
past crime… for the gods did not forget about his
crime against Chrysippus and Pelops’ family. Laius
was cursed. And so was his family.
23. The Curse on the Family
After Oedipus had married his mother and had children
with her, it was a long time until the truth about their
biological relationship was revealed to them.
Thebes, the city and its people, were troubled yet again. A
plague was ravishing its way through the city, and the
people were dying. The people turned to the Oracle to help
them, and the Oracle said that they must find the murderer
of Laius and punish him. The punishment would end the
plague.
24. The Curse on the Family
Oedipus immediately summoned the blind prophet
named Tiresias to court. However, Tiresias was at first
reluctant to give any advice. Eventually, Tiresias accused
Oedipus of killing Laius and he prophesized that Oedipus
would become blind and experience much suffering.
25. Sophocles writes the prophet’s accusation:
“I fear thee not; nor will I go before
That word be spoken which I came to speak.
How canst thou ever touch me?—Thou dost seek
With threats and loud proclaim the man whose hand
Slew Laïus. Lo, I tell thee, he doth stand
Here. He is called a stranger, but these days
Shall prove him Theban true, nor shall he praise
His birthright. Blind, who once had seeing eyes,
Beggared, who once had riches, in strange guise,
His staff groping before him, he shall crawl
O’er unknown earth, and voices round him call:
‘Behold the brother-father of his own
Children, the seed, the sower and the sown,
Shame to his mother’s blood, and to his sire
Son, murderer, incest-worker.’”
26. Oedipus Rex: A Grave Realization
Jocasta, the wife (and mother) of Oedipus Rex, at first told
Oedipus to ignore the “mad ravings” of the prophet, but then she
tells Oedipus about the prophecy about her son who was fated to
kill his father and marry his mother. She hopes these words will
comfort Oedipus, but in fact they have the opposite effect.
Oedipus slowly comes to realize the truth…
Jocasta, the wife (and mother) of Oedipus Rex, at first told
Oedipus to ignore the “mad ravings” of the prophet, but then she
tells Oedipus about the prophecy about her son who was fated to
kill his father and marry his mother. She hopes these words will
comfort Oedipus, but in fact they have the opposite effect.
Oedipus slowly comes to realize the truth…
27. Oedipus Rex: A Grave Realization
The final step was to find the shepherd who was ordered to
expose Jocasta’s baby. Under much interrogation he reveals that
Oedipus is in fact Jocasta’s son. Having the entire story they could
now see the truth.
Jocasta could not live with the truth, and so she took her own life.
Oedipus decided to inflict punishment on himself to protect the
people of Thebes and he gouged his own eyes out. The end
of Sophocles’ play was indeed gruesome.
28. Oedipus Rex: A Grave Realization
The Chorus of the play comment on the tragic fate of
Oedipus.
“But now, what man’s story is such bitterness to speak?
What life hath Delusion so visited, and Pain,
And swiftness of Disaster?
O great King, our master,
How oped the one haven to the slayer and the slain?”
