Oedipus Rex Themes

Fate versus Free Will

The ancient greek civilization prayed to Olympian gods, the likes of Zeus, and Apollo. Oracles and Prophecies played a large role in Greek society for a long time, but the tradition had begun to be looked at critically in the Athenian city when Sophocles wrote this play. The audience would have certainly recognized the conflicting emotions characters in the play have about Oracles and Prophets. Jocasta is the leading voice of criticism as she repeatedly tells Oedipus not to put stock in the words of the prophet, Tiresias. However, Sophocles is not far behind Jocasta in presenting evidence against the tradition of prophecies since loose ends about Laius's death leave the prophecies only partially fulfilled.

The play examines the differing perceptions of fate, and free will, as the characters in the play receive prophecies and attempt to prevent their realization. However, the steps the characters take to prevent the prophecies from coming true eventually become the very means for them to be true. Laius is told that his son will kill him, and so he decides to expose the baby, but a servant takes pity on the infant and hands him to a Corinthian shepherd. It is possible to argue that Laius wouldn't have been killed by Oedipus if he hadn't tried to get rid of Oedipus as an infant. In that same vein, Oedipus ends up killing Laius and marrying Jocasta because he is trying to avoid the prophecy that he was given by the oracle at Delphi. He believes that his father is Polybus, thus he decides to remain exiled from Corinth to keep from ever killing him.

Sophocles presents a strong but rather inconsistent case for the oracle. It is important to note that Oedipus's destruction doesn't come from the acts themselves but rather from the learning of the truth. Oedipus's determination to find the truth would have been a chief characteristic that would have resonated with the Athenian Audience. All of the characters in the play believe they are exercising free will until they learn otherwise. Oedipus never thinks to believe in the words of the blind prophet when he first tells Oedipus that he is the murderer that he is looking for and that his relationship with his wife is tainted with incest. Oedipus had already received a similar prophecy in the past, and yet he never stops to think about the words of the seer. He continually believes that his life is being controlled by his free will and that he has avoided the prophecy by staying exiled from Corinth.

Guilt and Anger

Guilt is a major theme of the play, as the tragedy begins with a plague that is believed to be brought about because a guilty murderer has escaped punishment. The prologue describes a party of suppliants ranging in all ages that come to address Oedipus for aid against the scourge of the plague. It is surprising to note that Oedipus had not once before tried to learn about the fate of the old king since the matter is first brought to his attention during the plague. However, Oedipus decides to make this issue his central aim and sets out to find the murderer. Oedipus's trouble with anger first becomes noticeable in his argument with the seer, who refuses to answer the questions Oedipus asks of him. Oedipus doesn't stop to hear the seer and begins to accuse him of being unpatriotic, then begins to believe that he is involved in an attempt to overthrow him. Oedipus even confronts Creon, his brother-in-law, for being involved in a plot to overthrow him. Oedipus behaves with decisiveness, a quality that would have also been admired by the Athenian Audience, yet he displays a clear tendency toward anger.

Oedipus is trying to find the murderer so that he can rid the city of the plague, and yet in his proclamation to the people, he threatens them with a curse if they don't come forward with the information needed to find the killer. However, the real extent of his problems with anger is revealed through his account of meeting people on the road to Delphi. Sophocles strongly implies that the party concerned is that which had belonged to Laius, however, this is never quite confirmed. It is rather incredible that Oedipus kills more than five people in a fit of anger when he is offended by Laius's strike on his head. It can be argued that Oedipus is led into a deteriorating situation due to his anger more than anything else.

It becomes apparent that Emotional guilt is the driving force behind the plot of the play and not legal guilt. No one can ascribe any knowledge to Oedipus or Jocasta for having even an inkling about the true nature of their relationship. Jocasta realizes the truth before Oedipus, and she attempts to halt the search but Oedipus is driven by his desire to learn the truth, and also perhaps to leaven some of the guilt that he experiences in having killed nearly half a dozen men without ever answering for the crime. Jocasta and Oedipus cannot be judged guilty for the crimes of patricide and incest, but they judge themselves guilty and decide their punishments.

Sight

Oedipus becomes the King of Thebes by relieving the city of the presence of a riddling Sphinx. The famous riddle for the sphinx was said to be the one about the animal that walks at four in the morning, then walks on two limbs in the afternoon, and then finally on three in the night. The answer to the riddle is a man, who crawls on four in childhood, then walks on two legs as an adult, and finally has to use a walking stick in old age. Oedipus is a man with a disability, as indicated by his limp, and so he has a unique perspective on the riddle which becomes the reason why he can answer the question. However, it is ironic that Oedipus is intelligent and perceptive enough to guess the answer of the riddling sphinx but is unable to see the truth of his own life even when the blind seer practically shoves it under his nose.

Oedipus has all the clues that he needs to see the truth of his situation quite early in the play, yet he fails to put them together. In this way, Sophocles shows us that sight and perception are complex phenomena that aren't governed by simple principles of ability but rather circumstance. This theme becomes prominent during Oedipus's conversation with Tierisias, as Oedipus tells the seer that he isn't blind in just sight but in all his other senses as well. The seer responds that Oedipus will soon be blind, and this prophecy of the seer is fulfilled when Oedipus blinds himself since he is unable to stand the sight of the horrific reality that he has created for himself.

Truth

One of the most asked questions regarding Oedipus Rex is Oedipus's complete lack of knowledge about Laius's death. Laius leaves for the Shrine of Delphi with a minuscule retinue, but the play never tells us why he seeks the oracle. Oedipus finds Laius on the road and kills him as well as all the other members of his retinue except one. He then comes to Thebes, rids them of the Sphinx, becomes their king, and marries the queen Jocasta. He then has several children with her, although this play doesn't tell us the exact number, we learn from the other plays that he fathers two sons and two daughters. In all of this time, Oedipus never tries to learn about the old king of Thebes.

Oedipus and Jocasta could have remained in blissful ignorance of the true nature of their relationship, yet the plague forces them to deal with Laius's death. Oedipus demonstrates his nature as a good king when he swears to find the murderer for the benefit of his people and then mobilizes all his resources to bring the matter to a close. This drive for discovering the truth is not only motivated by Oedipus's principles as a ruler but also by his nature. He displays this attribute when he tells Jocasta about his time in Corinth. Oedipus had been affected by a drunken man telling him that he wasn't the true son of Polybus, the king of Corinth. Oedipus had tried to have the matter addressed directly by his parents, but when their answers failed to satisfy him, Oedipus journeyed to the Delphic shrine to learn the truth.

Oedipus begins making efforts to uncover the details of Laius's death, and meets severe resistance from several other characters. The blind Seer, Tiresias, ignores Oedipus's summons because he doesn't want to reveal anything to him. He finally comes to see the king after repeated summons but even then he does his best to deter Oedipus. Tiresias only begins to tell Oedipus of his situation after Oedipus has continually provoked him, questioned his ability as a prophet, and maligned him as a usurper of the throne. Later, Jocasta figures out the truth of the matter before him and immediately sets about preventing him from discovering the truth. However, Oedipus dismisses her concerns to be motivated out of pride in her royal ancestry. Finally, the old Shepherd who had taken pity on Oedipus as an Infant reveals the truth of his birth under threat of death. Oedipus barrels through all of these hurdles to learn the truth of Laius's death as well as his true origins. In the end, Oedipus is left to be his prosecutor, judge, and punisher.