Oedipus Rex 1007Oedipus repeatedly proclaims the supremacy of the
gods and the importance of pledging them what
they are due: “Our health (with the gods’ help) shall
be made certain.”
While this is a compelling lesson in morality,
it is an ahistoric reversal of the moral standards of
ancient civilization. A few brief reviews of ancient
Greek myths reveal a world where actions and their
results mattered far less than intention. Tiresias,
whose foresight and disability feature in Sophocles’
play, did not seek out the bathing Athena, but his
punishment, blindness, stands for the duration of his
natural life. It is action, not intention, that matters
most in ancient Athenian morality.
Once the historical context is satisfied, Oedipus
as the model of imperfect greatness is discarded for
Oedipus as the model of heroism. He is the supreme
warrior, able to defeat a king and his entire entou-
rage single-handedly. He is the supreme intellect,
able to thwart the tyranny of the Sphinx by solv-
ing the unsolvable riddle. Together, he rules with
strength and wisdom, beloved leader of the people of
Thebes and a true hero.
Granted, the hero is not a perfect person. Oedi-
pus’s actions at the crossroads and, during the plot of
Sophocles’ play, his accusations against Tiresias and
Creon, suggest a man with a quick temper whose
reason is not always in command of his senses. For
Aristotle, imperfection is crucial to the tragic hero,
in order that the figure may be recognized as the
best of humanity but still very much a product of
humanity. But again, imperfection is not to be con-
fused with flaw. His humanity makes his struggle
meaningful. His struggle against his circumstances
demonstrates the notion of responsibility in the face
of an impossible dilemma.
Throughout the play, Oedipus reflects on the
role of leadership in a series of ironic proclamations.
In the public threats he makes against a person he
learns too late to be himself, he reveals not only
the terrifying miscalculation of the main character
but the fundamental characteristic of heroism in
Sophocles’ play. When Oedipus promises that he
will seek “vengeance for [Thebes]” and declares that
if the murderer of Laius should “become an inmate
of [Oedipus’s] house, [then Oedipus should] suf-
fer the same things that [he has] just called down
upon others,” he is not only foreshadowing his own
downfall but predicting that the downfall will come
from his own hand.
Sophocles had multiple sources for the story
of Oedipus. In some, Oedipus ruled for many
years after the suicide of his wife/mother, Jocasta;
in others, he died in battle after his cursed past
became public and his sons fought over the throne.
Sophocles chose to deliver a conclusion where
a grief-stricken, dishonored Oedipus takes full
responsibility for being “accursed in birth, accursed
in wedlock, accursed in the shedding of blood.” In
the Sophoclean tragedy, a hero is one who acts in
the best interest of his people, no matter the conse-
quences for himself. Oedipus may be the “accursed
defiler of [the] land,” but he is also the land’s savior.
Moreover, he is a man who has spent his entire
life trying to do what is morally right, fleeing his
homeland when Apollo’s own oracle warned him
of his destiny and, in the end, casting himself out
for the sake of all Thebes. Oedipus is more than
a great warrior and thinker, he is an ideal of social
responsibility. Though he is entirely innocent of any
intended wrongdoing, violating the laws of society
and morality while deliberately trying to avoid
breaking them, he sacrifices himself for the good of
Thebes.
Ben FislerreLIGIon in Oedipus Rex
Greek religion held that honoring the gods and
acting according to their laws was required of all
persons at all times. The challenge was that the law
of the gods could not always be followed. When
Oedipus acknowledges that “no man on Earth can
force the gods to what they will not,” he speaks from
personal experience, having asked the oracle if he is
truly the son of Polybus and Merope and been told
that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
Mortals lack the supernatural perspective of their
divine superiors. They must abide by the traditions
and rituals of society; give the gods their honors;
and pray, quite literally, that their efforts impress the
immortals.
From the first scene of Sophocles’ play, the reli-
gious context is revealed and godly superiority is
affirmed. A contingent of Thebans, led by a priest