How is the Greek tragic vision reflected in Oedipus Rex.

    Drama played a central role in the life of Greek people. It is in Greek times that the greatest of tragedies were written. Greek tragic vision is reflected through these tragedies. Since they were religious people they saw the great role of fate in making life happy or sorrowful. The divine power was the key force behind the disintegration of man. Those who didn’t practice moderation and crossed the limits of life would be punished by the divine force. The role of characters was also taken into account. However the redemptive power of tragedy provided wisdom through suffering. A study of Sophocles Oedipus Rex can give us insights into this Greek tragic vision.

    Every human being has certain limits and he should conduct life within those limits. A person cannot accomplish everything. Arrogance in excess will ultimately bring out the downfall of the person concerned. Moderation is a virtue that people should practice in order to avoid the possible catastrophe in life. The hubris is a weakness in the character of a protagonist and his fall is made inevitable because fate operates in collaboration with the weakness in the personality to bring about the downfall of that person. These two forces operate in such a way that the catastrophe is made to seem inevitable. Before the final moment comes the protagonist has to pass through a series of testing circumstances that try his power, patience, and endurance. The suffering is so great and intense that the people watching can’t help feeling pity and fear. The suffering is not in proportion to the crime committed. Oedipus is a noble character but his fall is made inevitable because of his arrogance and the fate was operating invisibly.

    While in power Oedipus acted bossy rebuking and accusing people who were under his authority as a king. Oedipus shouldn’t have acted arrogantly while at the peak of fortune and should have thought about the potential misfortune that could befall him any time in future. This is the lesson imparted by the play. Oedipus’s suffering is so intense and heartrending that we are deeply moved by it. The whole plot of the play is built around irony. Oedipus’s parents had handed him down to a shepherd so that they would be able to avoid the terrible fate according to which the infant would later kill his father and marry his mother. In keeping with the proverb, ‘What is looted can’t be blotted’, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. The greatest irony is that farther thinks he is moving away from the terrible fate. So, Oedipus Rex is rightly called the tragedy of fate. As a king Oedipus couldn’t see his people suffering. So he was determined to find out and punish the defiler of the city. Did he really have to take the investigation to its logical conclusion? To find an answer to this question we have to go to the question of fate. The circumstances of the play evolve in such a way that his fall is made inevitable. When Oedipus comes to know that he himself was the murderer of his father he accepts the reality bravely. He doesn’t face his fate like a coward. He encounters it like a hero. There lies his greatness as a hero. The suffering he has endured now makes him a wise person. He has suffered so much that he has become a saint and no human suffering can touch him now. He has in one way, gained redemption through his suffering.

    So, Greek tragic vision incorporates the idea of role or fate and the hubris that exists in the character of the people. Though the final disintegration is too much to bear, one has to accept one’s moral responsibility though the tragedy was mostly because of fate. One has to practice moderation in order to avoid any potential tragedy. Suffering is redemptive and the wisdom gained through it makes one mature.

Oedipus Rex examines the tension between interdependence of the individual and the state. Discuss.

      Oedipus Rex vividly dramatizes the tension between individuals and their interdependences as well. As the city of Thebes has been paralyzed by a plague the people expect something from the king to end their suffering. Oedipus as an individual has his own ambitions and aspirations and he needs the position of a king to realize his potentials. Kreon and the blind seer Tiresias are individuals who are in conflict with the king who represents the state. Oedipus wants to find out as and individual and when he knows it the result is horrifying and he is unseated from the throne. The play is thus a dramatization of the complex tension and interdependence between state and individuals.

      In the very beginning of the play we find a gathering of the people who have come to ask the king to do something to bail themselves out of the suffering and sorrow. Oedipus had saved the people before by answering the riddle of the Sphinx and the people want the king to do something similar to save them from death and suffering that has plagued the city. Oedipus as a king can’t keep quit when he sees his people suffering. His duty as the head of the state requires that he should do something to solve the problem. A king rules the people and it is a part of this duty to ensure their happiness and welfare. The people of Thebes depend upon the king for finding a solution to the crisis that has made them suffer a lot. Oedipus also shows his determination to find out the polluter of the city no matter what the consequences will be, As an individual he possesses great power and potentials and to allow those potentials to come to full fruition he needs a suitable position which is supplied by the throne. On the other hand, the tension between the individual and the state is equally worth exploring. Oedipus as a king has certain duties to fulfill and to justify his position, power and nobility as a monarch. His determination to solve the problem of the people is what the Thebans expect from the state. As their king, Oedipus feels it is his duty to take the investigation to its conclusion so that the suffering of his people would come to an end. Ironically, a kings’ commitment to a noble cause destroys him as he ends up finding out whom he is as an individual. He wants to know who he is and ends up knowing the horrible truth that he is the incestuous murderer. The truth he gets is the cause of his tragic downfall. Read More...