Friday, September 14, 2012
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
Oedipus Rex is a play based entirely off fear. Not only is the main theme from this play to fear and respect the gods, but fear is what depicts Oedipus' fate. It is when, " 'An oracle reported to Laios once... that his doom would be death at the hands of his own son-his son, born of his flesh and [Iokaste]!'" It was also foreseen that this child would marry his mother, Iokaste, so the King, "had pierced the baby's ankles and left him to die on a lonely mountainside." Fear of Oedipus' potential took over their minds and controlled the couple when they "decided" Oedipus' fate; however, as we know Oedipus in fact did not die, but in turn was adopted by the King and Queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope. One day after words from a drunkard Oedipus visits the oracle distraught over who his birth parents truly are, when the oracle spoke of wretchedness. The oracle wailed that Oedipus, "should be [his] father's murderer." Oedipus, fearing the worst, attempted to escape this dreadful fate and fled to the city of Thebes, where he inevitably killed his father and married and had kids with his mother. Regardless of what you believe fate is, or if it even exists, it is undeniable Oedipus, Laios, and Iokaste made their crossroad decisions out of fear, and this ultimately led to tragedy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is a real and relevant concern, Brandon, and as you point out, has ramifications for all of us and our civil liberties. How far will fear drive us before we stand up to it? The irony is, we often convince ourselves that we are standing up to our enemies when we are really being manipulated by fear. It’s a difficult situation, of course, as we feel we must do something. But how far we go means a lot to the general public. Fear is one of our deepest emotions, undoubtedly, and therefore one that is sometimes hard to bring to the surface and examine in the light of day. It often leads us to make poor decisions, as you point out.
ReplyDeleteWith Oedipus, it’s true that Iokaste & Laius’ fear of the prophecy lead them to kill their own child, but we could also say that, given their situation, they succumbed as well to the fear of actually killing their own child, and like many in power, give their dirty work to others who are “beneath” them. In addition, you might also point out that had Oedipus not responded to hearing the oracle’s words with absolute fear, he might have responded differently. Fear is what drove him toward Thebes. Of course, he had no choice in doing what he did, but a modern reading might look at a similar situation and say that decisions based on fear rather than reason are never good. Rousseau said what makes us human, and different from the animals, is our ability to rise above our instincts, to be free of them. The “fight or flight” is surely one of the most ancient of those instincts, and the most important one to rise above. I’d like to see more of your thinking, and therefore more writing, in these blogs. I’m looking forward to what you’ll say about Lear!