Oedipus Rex is regarded as a Greek tragedy par excellence presented by ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles. The background of the play involves the story of King Laius and Jocasta who were informed by the oracle that Laius will be murdered by his own, but instead of facing their destiny they tried to escape it. They planned an infanticide and for this purpose Jocasta handed over her baby to a shepherd who disobeyed her and gave her son, Oedipus to the childless King Polybus of Corinth.
This play highlights the power of prophecy, describes the consequences of hubris and the downfall caused by it and also sheds light on the fact that ignorance or blindness of knowledge may sometimes prove to be a blessing.
The entire play revolves around the oracle that Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother. In Greek tragedy, fate is unavoidable as fate wins over will always. Oedipus is portrayed as a genuine and intelligent hero who previously solved a riddle and saved the land of Thebes from the curse of Sphinx. As a result he was rewarded the hand of the queen of Thebes, Jocasta who was basically his biological mother, thus proving that fate cannot be altered in any case. When Oedipus learns about the truth of his life from Delphi, he runs off from Corinth with the motive to save his parents but instead ends up killing his own father as this is what was meant to be proving that despite his efforts Laius got murdered by his son and was helpless in changing his fate.
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Moreover, despite Oedipus’s attempt to escape destiny he commits the crime, hence, the prophecy is fulfilled. The characters of Laius, Jocasta and Oedipus were interconnected by fate. Despite being informed about their destinies beforehand and doing every possible thing to avoid it they still ended up suffering the consequences of trying to rebel and reject the prophecy. As “in Oedipus Rex, the gods are the ultimate guarantors of retribution, the divine order has no room for the moral sentiments of human beings.” (Silberman 294)
In Greek tragedy, the character of the hero has a tragic flaw or hamartia which usually leads to his downfall. Oedipus’s tragic flaw was his hubris. He felt so much pride in himself that he failed to realize that his excessive pride might lead to his demise. Oedipus was displayed as an intelligent hero, but his intelligence was toppled by his pride. For instance, in the play when the chorus prayed to God for saving Thebes, Oedipus replied to their prayers, he said, “Is this your prayer? It may be answered. Come, / Listen to me, act as the crisis demands, / And you shall have relief from all these evils” (Melsness 1).
This showed that he overestimated his power to be equal as that of the Gods and this reflects his pride. Other events such as Oedipus mentioning about how he single handedly saved the land from the curse of the Sphinx also reflects the same flaw. Hubris is what mainly led to the reversal of fate for Oedipus as when he was trying to find out the murderer of his father, he angrily questioned the blind prophet Tiresias and Creon and forced them to answer his questions. As a result the truth was disclosed to him and he realized that the prophecy that he was trying to escape had already been fulfilled.
Oedipus thought that he was so powerful that he could easily defy his fate and tried to escape the truth of marrying his mother and killing his father, but he was wrong. It was his hubris which made him believe that he could avoid the truth. Not only Oedipus but his mother Jocasta also possessed hubristic character as upon knowing the oracle, she and Laius decided to outrun the prophecy but failed and had to face consequences later on. In Greek tragedy, whoever possesses hubris has to face punishment and defeat as this trait is not liked by the Greek gods.
Power is also one of the major themes of Oedipus Rex which is responsible for corrupting the characters of this play. Since the very beginning, Oedipus is portrayed as an intelligent yet a proud and arrogant hero. As he saved the Thebans from the Sphinx he considers himself to be the most powerful. He uses his power over other characters of the play such as Delphi, Creon and Tiresias. For instance, with power he forced Delphi to tell him the truth of his past. Moreover, he used his power over Creon many times and even blamed Creon for conspiring against him.
Oedipus was so lost in his power that he even pushed religion aside and only thought of himself to be the most powerful. When Oedipus was searching for Laius’s murderer, he consults the blind prophet Tiresias who claimed to know the answers to his questions but refused to speak. Oedipus forced him to speak and even accused him of committing the murder. Therefore, he was enraged to speak the truth and told Oedipus that he himself killed his father and fulfilled the prophecy he was trying to escape. He still didn’t believe him and called the shepherd for inquiry. Even the shepherd was hesitant to speak but was provoked to tell as Oedipus threatened him.
Therefore, Oedipus’s power made him know the bitter truth due to which he suffers throughout. Knowing who he is at last, Oedipus refuses to live with it and blinds himself and goes into exile as he leaves Thebes forever. This play not only highlights the power of Oedipus but also the power of fate and Gods as even though Oedipus, Jocasta and Laius made relentless efforts to alter their fate, they failed to do so. At the end fate is what wins over their free will and the power of Gods is depicted proving that no matter how powerful a man could be, God will always remain the most powerful.
