Oedipus Rex as a Greek Tragedy

Assignment Paper- V

Oedipus Rex as a Greek Tragedy
 

Student Name : Jani Amita C.
Roll No : 41
Batch : 2010-11

Submitted to : Jay Mehta (Department of Engish)
                          Bhavnagar University

Convention Of Greek Drama :

• The most important convention of the Greek stage was the wearing of masks with attached wigs by al performers.
• The elaborate costumes worn by the actors and chorus members were often the most striking visual element.
• Staging was usually limited to the painted background behind the stage.
• Greek tragedies are all set out side. So the background usually depicted the exterior of the main character’s residence in the case of the Oedipus Rex. The place of Oedipus and the shrine to Apollo in front of it.
• The action of a Greek tragedy takes place in a single day, so “changes of scene” are rare and props are kept to a minimum.
• In addition to the chorus and the three actors, mute character could also appear on stage as needed.
• In front of the stage which was not raised from the ground as in modern theaters, was a circular area called the orchestra, in which the chorus performed its dances.
• The plays followed a fairly strict structure with a prologue, the entrance of the chorus and them several episodes separated by choral odes.
• The dialogue of the plays is written in meter, but was spoken, like the plays of Shakespeare, whereas the choral odes were written in a more complicated meter for the chorus to sing and dance.
• The plays also include a Kommos, in which the main character lament in song with the chorus.
• All in all, the form of Greek tragedy somewhat resembles a cross between Shakespeare and opera.

Predestination in Oedipus Rex : 

Same people says that there is no way to control your own life, that your life has been planned out for your ahead of time and there is nothing you can do to escape this fate. Others believe that your life is a matter of choice and what happens to your during your life is a result of your actions. The story of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles seems to prove truth in both of the statements that there is a life predetermined for you yet you can alter your life, but you cannot escape your prophecy.

The power of Fate in Oedipus the king :

The Greek tragedy Oedipus the king, by Sophocles was written to show the common people of Greece, how powerful the gods are and that your fate is pre-determined and nothing you do can change that. He does by showing how people in this story try to escape their fate and how it is no use because in the end, what the oracles predict comes true. In the story there are many occasions in which people try to escape their fate.

The first time that one of the characters in the story tries to escape their fate is when Jocasta and Laius have a child. After the oracles tell Jocasta and Laius of their fate, Jocasta and Laius try to get rid of their new born baby by sending him off to a shepherd who in turn will put the baby on a mountain to die. However in the end their child, Oedipus becomes a prince of another city any ends up killing his father (Laius) in an alteration and marries his mother (Jocasta).

Another example is when Oedipus tries to run away from those who he thinks are his real parents because he does not want to kill his father or marry his mother. However he ends up doing so when he meets his real father in an intersection of three roads and kills him. The third example is where Oedipus continues on his journey to escape his fate and comes across the sphinx and it was said that whatever could solve the riddle of the sphinx would become king of Thebes. Oedipus solved the riddle and became king thus marrying the queen of Thebes who was his real mother. By doing this he committed what he tried to get away from. In the end of the story, when Oedipus and his wife mother find out that the prediction of the oracles has cane true, Jocusta kills herself and Oedipus kills himself when he see his mother wife dead. This part of the tragedy is to show that if you try to escape your fate you will be punished by the Gods.

In conclusion by the three examples that were provide above it is clear that the purpose of this Greek tragedy was to show how fate cannot be escaped and that your destiny is planned by the Gods and nothing you do to change it. This also shows that although you may know you r destiny, you cannot do anything to change it and if you do you will be punished by the Gods.

Edipus And His human Destiny : 

                The author presents an analysis of the Greek insight of Oedipus, after Sophocles Oedipus Rex. This analysis considers that, in addition to an circular destiny determined by deity, Oedipus realize his own human destiny, which is the very conquest of me knowledge of his own identity. The author relates such a conquest to the psychoanalytic work which enables each individual to get in touch with his deepest motivation and to develop a better self consciousness.

                One of the most commonly seen straits among the character that make up the Greek mythology is the violence which permeates their relationship have experienced such radical changes as Oedipus. He is one of the most touching figures of Greek mythology. No character seems to be displayed with such clarity and emphasis on his weaknesses and noble human trails like him. He was worked in a very special way by Sophocles in two tragedies , Oedipus Rex and Oedipus in colono. The genius of Sophocles gives him a universal dimension, applicable epochs and to all men. Oedipus fights against himself in a battle which he cannot win. He presents me tragedy of a man’s encounter with his own truth.

                Apollo is the God behind the conspiration involving Oedipus. Oracular God, hides what he reveals through his oracles “Yes, he will kill his father and marry his mother”, but she she does not answer the question “Who am I son of ?” and Oedipus does not realize that he is heading to meet the destiny he through he was swindling. This journey of intense, loneliness, in which Oedipus has to confront the horrot of his recent discovery, does not assuage his violent temperament, does not impede that in a road fork which was long waiting for him he kills an unknown man, his father Laius. If also does not prevent him, further along, to use his sharp intelligence to solve an enigma that has already caused horrible death to many, enigma sang by a blood thirsty hybrid monster. What better reward to the person who saved a whole than marry him to a recently widow queen - Jocasta, his mother,  whom he does not know – then turn his into the beloved king of Thebes, his hometown, and then make it prosper ? But not for a long time. Apollo was said ! “A crime was committed and someone had to be punished”. The first unreal, a few years later, was the killer plague. The Apollineam Oracle consulted, answered that in order for them to get rid of the plague a price would have to be paid to discover who killed Laius. Oedipus starts to investigate while Apollo laughs!

                The path chosen by Oedipus to satisfy Apollo’s wish was described by Sophocle. Each dialogue, each passage, each little change in the dramatic developments all are full with ambiguities, ironies, contrasts, showing how fragile man is before the power of God, the superior power of the Gods who entertain themselves of ambiguous Apollo, Ambiguity is the tonic! It happens in many parts throughout the plays. Through the oracles, Apollo is master of the enigmas, challenges man to escape from what is destines to. In that sense, Colli, comments that :

                “For the Greeks, the creation of an enigma curries in itself tremendous hostility.”

                The god here does not directly induce all the hero’s actions, as if frequently found in Homeric poetry. The tragedy of the fifth century brought this evolution in the way of analyzing the relationship between the greek Gods and man. Giving the latter more freedom of action, Oedipus is reduced to the most dignified pitiful creature one can imagine.

                Up to a certain point in the drama, Oedipus is completely in capable of realizing what is happening around him, Oedipus leads an investigation which in reality is like a quagmire, in which he slowly sinks, until he realize that he is the victim of the plot he was trying to uncover. Oedipus wants to know who he is? Where he come from? Who his parents are? in his own words..

“How could I ever in the issue prove other – that I should leave my birth unknown ?”

                His arrogance constantly present during the investigation, which blinds him when he erroneously in turrets the oracle of his origin, which leads him to the extreme action of killing the unknown traveler, his arrogance is his doom. Oedipus did not know who he was, though believed he did. The through his words is a great inreal to the knowledge Oedipus has of himself.

                Oedipus is blind to what cannot be perceived by the senses, but feels that something needs to be clarified when he discover the thuth about himself, he punctures both his eyes but only then he can see. His blindness is illuminated by the light of truth. The darkness to which he sentences himself to live in is strongly bright. Oedipus was unable to solve the most pressing enigma : he did not understand that he himself was the answer to the enigma. Oedipus has to make contact with something monstrous. With his shield that everything distorted, Oedipus needed to make the discovery this way.  Oedipus is able to evolve change himself. As he uncovers his destiny.

Oedipus – The Tragic Hero :

                In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is a classic tragic hero. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus is a tragic hero because he is a king whose life falls apart when he finds out his life story. Here are number of characteristic described by Aristotle that identifies a tragic hero. For example.

                A tragic hero must cause his own downfall, his fate is not deserved and his punishment exceeds the crime; he also must be of noble stature and have greatness. Oedipus is in love with his idealized self.

                All of above characteristics make Oedipus a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s ideas about tragedy and a narcissist. Using Oedipus as an ideal model, Aristotle says that as tragic hero must be an important or influential man who makes an error in judgment, and who must then suffer the consequences of his actions. The tragic hero must learn a lesson from his errors in judgment and becomes an example to the audience of what happens when great mean fall from their lofty social or political positions According to miller a person who is great who is admired everywhere and needs this admiration to admires himself, his qualities, such as beauty, cleverness and talents, and his success and achievements greatly.

Conclusion :

                Through the tragedy of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles has presented his belief that all people are travelling on a predestined path, a path that cannot be avoided no matter what actions are taken to avoid following the destiny. This concept was readily acceptable in a ancient Greek society where it was believed that Gods constemtly interfered in the lives of humans, making them do whatever they saw fit. The difference between Oedipus situation and the lives of people today is that Oedipus and knowledge of his destiny through the in using of various prophety, a common reference point in ancient Greece and fate is a theme that often occurs in Greek writing, tragedies in particular.