Introduction
Greek poets set the groundwork for dramatic literature. Scholars and critics alike believe Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King to be the pinnacle of his achievements as a writer in ancient Greece. A crucial and divisive issue in Sophocles’ day is explored in the play: The Gods’ will versus man’s free will. The drama Oedipus the King reflects Sophocles’ attachment to his Athenian religion, which illuminates the play’s entire significance. Sophocles concludes that for a man to achieve these goals, he needs to possess an equal measure of piety and faith in himself and the gods. Sophocles portrays these ideas to a broad audience in Oedipus through the actions of the principal characters and the plot’s underlying structure. This paper analyzes and discusses the Oedipus the King, Sophocles, based on the biblical statements.
Analysis and Discussion of Oedipus the King, Sophocles
The debate over whether a rock or fate predetermines one’s destiny or whether one’s actions are the result of free will has persisted throughout the history of many religions and nations. The ancient Greeks placed a high value on this topic since they believed that everything takes place for a purpose and that man cannot alter the natural order of things (Lesher 93). In this perspective, fate is represented by gods and oracles, who speak for the gods in this context.
After hearing his people’s desperate pleas for help, King Oedipus sought the oracle’s advice on saving his city from the disease in the play’s prologue. However, he was perplexed by the response he received from the deity Apollo through Kreon. “Exile or death, blood for blood,” Apollo declared, was the only way to rid a nation of its sin and restore its reputation. In the Oedipus story, Sophocles explains that the plague wind was brought on by murder (Shakespeare 1303). When Oedipus asks the blind prophet for guidance and proceeds to Delphi’s oracle in search of his ancestry, he may track similar motives and actions throughout the play. The last surprise is revealed at the play’s conclusion: all prophecies came true. Sophocles effectively demonstrates that the gods’ will and predestination play an essential role in human life in the tragedy.
Because of his compassion, sense of justice, speed of action, and honesty, Oedipus is considered one of the most admirable characters in all written literature. In the beginning, Oedipus embodies all that any audience member, Athens citizen, or leader may want. He addresses his first speech, which is to an elderly priest in a tremendous deal of pain, with a sincere message of concern for the well-being of the people of his people’s physical health (Roisman 101).Despite Creon’s advice that Oedipus hear the news in private, Oedipus is adamant that he will not keep the oracle’s words to himself. Much to his horror, Creon tells him that the investigation into the killing of Laius was soon dropped as a subject of concern, especially on a high-ranking monarch (Lesher 95). Before the chorus could suggest that Oedipus consult the oracle and ask for advice about dealing with the people’s predicament, Oedipus had already formulated a strategy to address both of these issues. It is irrelevant at this point who was responsible for the death of Laius because Oedipus is unwavering in his commitment to mete out severe punishment to whoever was involved.
Sophocles was a significant character in the Renaissance who influenced not just the arts but also politics, government, and combat. He was one of the many Greeks who lived throughout the Renaissance. Therefore, it should not be surprising that he participated in many religious activities. One of the most significant parts that Sophocles played was in the spiritual life of Athens (Lesher 103). It is said that he was the one who first instituted the religion of Asclepius in Athens. This cult was accepted into society after the population of Athens was utterly obliterated by a terrible disease. Boyask contends that the plague that had recently gone through Athens was the impetus for Sophocles’ interest in the psychological effects of a disease, which we experience in Oedipus the King. Boyask claims that this interest may be seen in Oedipus the King.
In all of Sophocles’ works, humanity’s strength is a prominent theme. “He wrote men as they ought to be. “Sophocles’ works have a specific “spiritual value” because of the tragedies that they address (Roisman 103). A result of this curiosity was probably the development of religious views, evidence for which he may have derived from his surroundings’ terrible experiences. The theological beliefs of Sophocles are never explicitly criticized, either by Sophocles or by any other thinker or historian of the time. However, studying plays like Oedipus the King can gain an in-depth understanding of Aristotle’s religious beliefs. Tragedy in Sophocles’ tragedies is shown not only in the mortal world but against the backdrop of what is termed “…the eternal laws of justice and divine government” (Shakespeare 1315)
Sophocles was always more interested in the strength of humans than the gods and goddesses they represented. For instance, the chorus does not instantly talk of the splendor of the gods after Oedipus has gouged out his eyes but wonders at Oedipus’ command of himself, “Dreadful…/How could you stand to gouge out your eyes?” (Shakespeare 1324). To Sophocles, even though humans are not as powerful as the gods, they are powerful creatures in their way. “In the backdrop, the unfathomable decrees of destiny are constantly visible.” when observed from this perspective, mortal men’s acts take on an unexpected grandeur and impressiveness” (Brook 94). Sophocles celebrates these periods in human history by reenacting them on stage, but he also exposes their human fragility in the process.
The development of the story’s biblical analysis is heavily reliant on the occurrence of coincidental events. For instance, as a result of the event, Oedipus had a fit of wrath and murdered an elderly charioteer who was said to resemble King Laius. This character was characterized as looking like Laius. As a direct consequence, Oedipus, against his better judgment, goes through with the prophecy of the oracle that King Laius will be murdered by his son. This was demonstrated when a messenger from Corinth came to tell Oedipus about his father’s death. He was from Corinth. At this point in the story, Oedipus is beginning to doubt the integrity of the first half of the prophecy. However, to calm Oedipus’s concerns, the messenger reveals to him that Merope is not his original mother. This revelation compels Oedipus to continue his inquiry into his family’s history.
Performing great deeds comes with a moral obligation to serve the gods respectfully and maintain the divine laws that they have established. “…duration [that is] endless” describes these laws. Putra and Widayanti’s (1) words, “…justice, and ordain ‘reverent purity in every speech and deed’” are the guiding principles of the gods. In the words of Clifford Herschel Moore, a Harvard professor of Greek religion, “Sophocles emphasized the divine source of the greater moral demands which transcend all human rules.” “An oracle… (I won’t say from Apollo himself/but his underlings, his priests) and it said/that disaster would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son…” is crucial in Oedipus the King’s understanding. As retribution for an earlier generation’s transgression (Brook 99). Retribution for a crime Oedipus had nothing to do with punishes him in a way that he cannot help but feel guilty. This new interpretation reveals another facet of Sophocles’ religious worldview to the audience. To his credit, unlike most of his contemporaries, he acknowledges that “…while crime is punished, innocence is not always preserved, and misery and tragedy often befall the guilty” (Shakespeare 1310).
In recognizing predestination from a supernatural perspective, Sophocles also shows that an individual’s choices and goals have equal weight in shaping the course of their life and even the entire country’s history (Putra and Widayanti 2). With Oedipus’ attitude toward people and subsequent acts, the author convincingly depicts his flaws and errors in judgment. He was determined to uncover the truth, even though Tiresias had refused to reveal what had caused the disease in Athens. Oedipus’ loathing for Tiresias prompted him to declare his belief that the venerable prophet was responsible for their homeland’s calamities. When Oedipus declared, “If for this power / Kreon seeks in secret to destroy me,” he showed the same unreasonable attitude against Kreon, thereby unreasonably accusing him of ambition (Brook 104). That Oedipus met his terrible end due to his faults and follies is no surprise.
Oedipus’ good intentions are another evidence of a person’s possession of a will, and they demand careful analysis. It is Oedipus’s obsessive pursuit of truth that, in significant part, sets off following events in the play and concludes in Oedipus’ downfall (Putra and Widayanti 6). Sophocles argues that free will is fundamental to human life as, without Oedipus’ determined determination, there would have been no tragic denouement.
Conclusion
Sophocles’s faith in the God of his day was unwavering. One of his most famous works, Oedipus the King, vividly demonstrates this religious dedication and the convictions about humanity he formed from his study of the world. With the use of the acts of the main characters and the story’s central themes, the play’s message is conveyed to his Greek peers: that man is a magnificent creature with capabilities and talents that are awe-inspiring, yet without the grace of the gods, we would be nothing but dust. One of the greatest works of ancient literature, Oedipus the King, explores the relationship between free will and fate as it pertains to people’s daily lives. Sophocles does not endorse a particular viewpoint but demonstrates that these two abilities have an equal impact on human life by using the example of Oedipus. In the play, the protagonist’s fate is tragic, but his image does not appear to be wretched but rather grand and gigantic. If people believe in fate and destiny, this message is still vital to them today.
Works Cited
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Putra, Madha Dwi Aji, and Maria Johana Ari Widayanti. “Victory in Tragic Ending: Analysis of Sophocles’” Oedipus The King.” Rainbow: Journal of Literature, Linguistics and Culture Studies 8.1 (2019): 1-7.
Roisman, Hanna. “PJ Finglass, ed., trans., comm., Sophocles: Oedipus the King.” New England Classical Journal 46.1 (2019): 101-103.
Shakespeare, William. “Othello; The Moor of Venice.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and sense. 13th ed., edited by Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, Cengage, 2018, p. 1303-1396.