Oedipus Rex Themes: Timeless Concepts for Audiences Then and Now
For scholars discussing Oedipus Rex, themes are a popular topic. Sophocles used several themes easily recognized by the citizens of ancient Greece. He crafted a compelling tale that has captivated audiences for thousands of years with these themes.
What is Sophocles saying to his audiences?
Read on to find out more!
Setting the Stage: Quick Facts About Oedipus Rex
The story of Oedipus was well-known to Greek audiences: the king who unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy while trying to escape it. The earliest recorded account of his story appears in Homer’s The Odyssey in the Eighth Century BCE. In Book 11 of the text, Odysseus journeys to the Underworld and meets several dead, including Queen Jocasta. Homer spares several lines to recount the tale:
“The next I saw was Oedipus’ mother,
Fair Jocasta, who, against her knowledge,
Undertook a monstrous act—she married
Her own son. Once he’d killed his father,
He made her his wife. And then the gods
Showed everyone the truth…”
Homer, The Odyssey, Book 11
As it often happens with stories from the oral tradition, Homer’s version differs slightly from the story we recognize today. Still, the premise remained consistent through its retellings until Sophocles dramatized the tale for the theatre.
Sophocles wrote several plays about Thebes, and the three that survived center upon the saga of Oedipus. Oedipus Rex was first performed around 429 BCE, to great acclaim. In his work, Poetics, Aristotle references the play to explain the components of tragic plays and the qualities of the tragic hero.
What Is the Theme of Oedipus Rex? Can Free Will Conquer Fate?
Though there are many themes discussed, arguably, the main theme of Oedipus Rex deals with the unconquerable power of fate. Fate played a significant role in Greek mythology, so much so that three goddesses worked in tandem to govern the process.
Clotho would spin the thread of a person’s life, Lachesis would measure it to the correct length, and Atropos would cut it off when the person’s fate was at an end. These goddesses, called the Three Fates, also personified the ideas of past, present, and future.
Oedipus himself bore the scars of fate from birth. King Laius received a prophecy saying that his son, Oedipus, would kill him, so when Jocasta gave birth to a son, Laius drove a pin through the baby’s ankles and sent Jocasta to abandon the babe in the woods. Jocasta instead gave the child to a shepherd, starting the process by which Oedipus would grow to manhood permanently scarred by the pin and utterly ignorant of his true origins.
The Greeks believed strongly in the power of fate and its inevitability. Since fate was the will of the gods, people knew that trying to change their fate was perilous at best. Laius attempted to escape his fate by abandoning his son, and Oedipus fled from Corinth to protect who he thought were his parents. Both actions caused these characters to run headlong into the arms of fate.
The main characters in Oedipus Rex believe they act with free will. Indeed, the audience can easily see several actions the characters could have taken to ensure that the prophecy did not come to pass. Still, the characters consciously made choices that brought the prophecy to fruition. Sophocles makes the point that, no matter how “free” one’s decisions might seem, the will of the gods is inescapable.
The Three-Way Crossroads: A Tangible Symbol of Fate at Work
The inevitability of fate is symbolized in another of the themes of Oedipus The King: the three-way crossroads. In literature and oral traditions across the globe, a crossroads represents a pivotal moment in the plot, where the character’s decision influences how the story will end.
King Laius and Oedipus could have met and fought at any location, but Sophocles used the three-way crossroads to emphasize the importance of their meeting. The three roads symbolize the Three Fates as well as the past, present, and future acts that intersect at that point. The audience can imagine the “roads” these men traveled to reach this point, all of the events of their lives that led to that pivotal moment. Once Oedipus kills Laius, he starts down a road from which there is no return.
How does this fit in with the concept of fate versus free will?
Laius and Oedipus act according to their own decisions, sometimes even choosing actions they feel will steer them clear of the prophecy. However, each choice only moved them along their destined paths to destruction and despair. Though they thought they were in control of their destinies, they couldn’t escape their fates.
Blindness and Ignorance: Another of the Major Themes in Oedipus Rex
Throughout the text of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles played with the ideas of eyesight versus insight. Oedipus is famous for his keen insight, but he cannot “see” the reality of his own deeds. He even insults the prophet Teiresias to remain willfully ignorant. Though Teiresias himself is blind, he can “see” the truth that Oedipus refuses to recognize, and he admonishes the King:
“I am blind, and thou
Hast mocked my blindness. Yea, I will speak now.
Eyes hast thou, but thy deeds thou canst not see
Nor where thou art, nor what things dwell with thee.
Whence art thou born? Thou know’st not; and unknown,
On quick and dead, on all that were thine own,
Thou hast wrought hate.”
Sophocles, Oedipus Rex, Lines 414-420
Oedipus continues to close his eyes to the truth as long as he can, but eventually, even he must realize that he unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy. Realizing that he can no longer look his children in the eye, he gouges out his own eyes. Then he, like Teiresias, was physically blind but could see the truth all too clearly.
Queen Jocasta, too, cannot see the truth for much of the play. One could argue that she was “blinded” by love, else she might have noticed that Oedipus was the same age as her forgotten son. Indeed, Oedipus (whose name means “swollen foot”) is afflicted with an injury in the exact area where Laius injured her child. When realization dawns, she attempts to divert Oedipus to keep him blind to his origins and to her part in fulfilling the heinous prophecy.
Hubris: A Major Theme in Greek Works, but a Minor Theme in Oedipus Rex
Hubris, or overbearing pride, was a severe offense in ancient Greece, which is how it became such a significant theme in Greek literature. One well-known example is Homer’s The Odyssey, in which Odysseus’ hubris causes his ten-year struggle to reach home. Though many famous characters met their end due directly to hubris, Oedipus doesn’t seem to be one of them.
Undoubtedly, Oedipus does express pride; at the beginning of the play, he bragged that he saved Thebes by solving the riddle of the Sphinx. He is confident that he can find the murderer of the former King Laius and save Thebes again, this time from a plague. During the exchanges with Crius and Teiresias, he shows as much pride and boasting as the average king.
However, these demonstrations of pride do not technically qualify as hubris. By definition, “hubris” involves humiliating someone else, usually a defeated foe, to make oneself seem superior. This excessive, power-hungry pride causes one to commit rash acts, eventually leading to one’s destruction.
The pride Oedipus often displays is not excessive, considering he did save Thebes. He doesn’t seek to humiliate anyone and only offers a few insults out of frustration. One could argue that killing King Laius was an act of pride, but since Laius’s servants struck first, it is equally likely that he acted out of self-defense. In actuality, his only detrimental act of pride was thinking that he could successfully run from his own fate.
Conclusion
Sophocles had plenty to say to his ancient Greek audience. The development of his themes in Oedipus the King served as a benchmark for all future tragic plays.
Here are a few key points to remember:
- Sophocles crafted Oedipus Rex using themes easily understood by ancient Greek audiences.
- His central theme exemplified the popular Greek idea that fate is inescapable, though one’s actions seem like free will.
- The three-way crossroads is a direct metaphor for fate.
- In the play, Sophocles often juxtaposes the ideas of eyesight and blindness with knowledge and ignorance.
- The blind prophet Teiresias sees the truth, where keen-eyed Oedipus cannot see what he has done.
- Hubris, or excessive pride, is a popular theme in Greek literature.
- Oedipus does indeed show pride, but his prideful acts seldom, if ever, rise to the level of hubris.
- The only hubristic act that might lead to Oedipus’ downfall is that he thinks he is powerful enough to outrun his own fate.
Though the Greeks in Sophocles’ day knew the story of Oedipus already, undoubtedly, the themes of Oedipus Rex were as entertaining and thought-provoking to them as they are to audiences today.
