Editing Oedipus Rex (section)

==Themes, irony and motifs==
===Fate, free will, or tragic flaw===
[[File:Oedipus & Sphinx.jpg|thumb|A Greek amphora depicting Oedipus and the Sphinx, {{circa|450 BC}}]]
[[Destiny|Fate]] is a motif that often occurs in Greek writing, tragedies in particular. Likewise, where the attempt to avoid an oracle is the very thing that enables it to happen is common to many Greek myths. For example, similarities to Oedipus can be seen in the myth of [[Perseus]]'s [[Perseus#Origin at Argos|birth]].

Two oracles in particular dominate the plot of ''Oedipus Rex''. Jocasta relates the prophecy that was told to [[Laius]] before the birth of Oedipus (lines 711–4):

{{Poemquote|text=[The oracle] told him
that it was his fate that he should die a victim
at the hands of his own son, a son to be born
of Laius and me.|char=|title=|source=}}

The oracle told to Laius tells only of the [[patricide]], whereas the [[incest]] is missing. Prompted by Jocasta's recollection, Oedipus reveals the prophecy which caused him to leave [[Corinth]] (lines 791–3):

{{Poemquote|text=that I was fated to lie with my mother,
and show to daylight an accursed breed
which men would not endure, and I was doomed
to be murderer of the father that begot me.|char=|sign=|title=|source=}}

The implication of Laius's oracle is ambiguous. One interpretation considers that the presentation of Laius's oracle in this play differs from that found in [[Aeschylus]]'s [[Seven Against Thebes|Oedipus trilogy]] produced in 467 BC. Smith (2005) argues that "Sophocles had the option of making the oracle to Laius conditional (''if'' Laius has a son, that son will kill him) or unconditional (Laius ''will'' have a son who will kill him). Both Aeschylus and Euripides write plays in which the oracle is conditional; Sophocles&nbsp;... chooses to make Laius's oracle unconditional and thus removes culpability for his sins from Oedipus, for he could not have done other than what he did, no matter what action he took."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Helaine|year=2005|title=Masterpieces of Classic Greek Drama |url=https://archive.org/details/masterpiecesclas00smit|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/masterpiecesclas00smit/page/n95 82]|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-33268-5}}</ref><ref>See Dodds 1966; Mastronarde 1994, 19; Gregory 2005, 323.</ref>

This interpretation is supported by Jocasta's repetition of the oracle at lines 854–55: "Loxias declared that the king should be killed by/ his own son." In Greek, Jocasta uses the verb ''chrênai'': "to be fated, necessary." This iteration of the oracle seems to suggest that it was unconditional and inevitable.

Other scholars have nonetheless argued that Sophocles follows tradition in making Laius's oracle conditional, and thus avoidable. They point to Jocasta's initial disclosure of the oracle at lines 711–14. In Greek, the oracle cautions: "{{transliteration|el|''hôs auton '''hexoi''' moira pros paidos thanein''/ ''hostis '''genoit''''' ''emou te kakeinou para''.}}" The two verbs in boldface indicate what is called a "future more vivid" condition: ''if'' a child is born to Laius, his fate to be killed by that child ''will'' overtake him.<ref>Thus Sir Richard Jebb in his [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0016%3Acommline%3D714 commentary]. Cf. Jeffrey Rusten's 1990 commentary.</ref>

Whatever the meaning of Laius's oracle, the one delivered to Oedipus is clearly unconditional. Given the modern conception of [[destiny|fate]] and [[fatalism]], readers of the play have a tendency to view Oedipus as a mere puppet controlled by greater forces; a man crushed by the gods and fate for no good reason. This, however, is not an entirely accurate reading. While it is a mythological [[truism]] that oracles exist to be fulfilled, oracles do not cause the events that lead up to the outcome. In his landmark essay "On Misunderstanding the ''Oedipus Rex''",<ref>''Greece & Rome'', 2nd Ser., Vol. 13, No. 1 (Apr., 1966), pp. 37–49</ref> [[E. R. Dodds]] draws upon [[Bernard Knox]]'s comparison with [[Jesus]]' prophecy at the [[Last Supper]] that [[Saint Peter|Peter]] would deny him three times. Jesus ''knows'' that Peter will do this, but readers would in no way suggest that Peter was a puppet of fate being ''forced'' to deny Christ. [[Free will]] and [[predestination]] are by no means mutually exclusive, and such is the case with Oedipus.

The oracle delivered to Oedipus is what is often called a "[[self-fulfilling prophecy]]," whereby a prophecy itself sets in motion events that conclude with its own fulfilment.<ref>Strictly speaking, this is inaccurate: Oedipus himself sets these events in motion when he decides to investigate his parentage against the advice of Polybus and Merope.</ref> This, however, is not to say that Oedipus is a victim of fate and has no free will. The oracle inspires a series of specific choices, freely made by Oedipus, which lead him to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus ''chooses'' not to return to Corinth after hearing the oracle, just as he chooses to head toward Thebes, to kill Laius, and to take Jocasta specifically as his wife. In response to the plague at Thebes, he ''chooses'' to send Creon to the Oracle for advice and then to follow that advice, initiating the investigation into Laius's murder. None of these choices are predetermined.

[[File:The Plague of Thebes.jpg|thumb|left|''Oedipus and Antigone'', by [[Charles Jalabert]]]]
Another characteristic of oracles in myth is that they are almost always misunderstood by those who hear them; hence Oedipus misunderstanding the significance of the Delphic Oracle. He visits Delphi to find out who his real parents are and assumes that the Oracle refuses to answer that question, offering instead an unrelated prophecy which forecasts patricide and incest. Oedipus's assumption is incorrect: the Oracle does, in a way, answer his question. On closer analysis, the oracle contains essential information which Oedipus seems to neglect. The wording of the Oracle: "I was doomed to be murderer of the father that begot me" refers to Oedipus's real, biological father. Likewise the mother with polluted children is defined as the biological one. The wording of the drunken guest on the other hand: "you are not your father's son" defines Polybus as only a foster father to Oedipus. The two wordings support each other and point to the "two sets of parents" alternative. Thus the question of two sets of parents, biological and foster, is raised. Oedipus's reaction to the Oracle is irrational: he states he did not get any answer and he flees in a direction away from Corinth, showing that he firmly believed at the time that Polybus and Merope are his real parents.

The scene with the drunken guest constitutes the end of Oedipus's childhood. He can no longer ignore a feeling of uncertainty about his parentage. However, after consulting the Oracle this uncertainty disappears, strangely enough, and is replaced by a totally unjustified certainty that he is the son of Merope and Polybus. We have said that this irrational behaviour—his ''[[hamartia]]'', as Aristotle puts it—is due to the repression of a whole series of thoughts in his consciousness, in fact everything that referred to his earlier doubts about his parentage.<ref>Brunner M. "King Oedipus Retried" Rosenberger & Krausz, London, 2001. {{ISBN|0-9536219-1-X}}</ref>

===State control===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2018}}
The exploration of the theme of state control in ''Oedipus Rex'' is paralleled by the examination of the conflict between [[Individualism|the individual]] and [[State (polity)|the state]] in ''[[Antigone (Sophocles play)|Antigone]]''. The dilemma that Oedipus faces here is similar to that of the tyrannical [[Creon of Thebes|Creon]]: each man has, as king, made a decision that his subjects question or disobey; and each king misconstrues both his own role as a [[sovereign]] and the role of the rebel. When informed by the blind [[prophet]] [[Tiresias]] that religious forces are against him, each king claims that the priest has been corrupted. It is here, however, that their similarities come to an end: while Creon sees the havoc he has wreaked and tries to amend his mistakes, Oedipus refuses to listen to anyone. (The above text comes almost directly from David Grene's introduction to ''Sophocles I'', University of Chicago Press, 1954.)

=== Irony ===
{{Primary sources|section|date=October 2024}}
Sophocles uses [[Dramatic Irony|dramatic irony]] to present the downfall of Oedipus. At the beginning of the story, Oedipus is portrayed as "self-confident, intelligent and strong willed."{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} By the end, it is within these traits that he finds his demise.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

One of the most significant instances of irony in this tragedy is when Tiresias hints to Oedipus what he has done; that he has slain his own father and married his own mother (lines 457–60):<ref>Theodoridis, G. (2005). ''Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus, Tyrannos, King, Vasileus) Οιδίπους Τύραννος''. Retrieved from Bacchicstage: https://bacchicstage.wordpress.com/sophocles/oedipus-rex/

Note: this source is assumed as reliable, as it is provided in Powell (2015), a university-course-level textbook.</ref>

{{Poemquote|text=To his children he will discover that he is both brother and father.
To the woman who gave birth to him he is son and husband and to his father, both, a sharer of his bed and his murderer.
Go into your palace then, king Oedipus, and think about these things and if you find me a liar then you can truly say I know nothing of prophecies.|title=|char=|sign=|source=|line=}}

The audience knows the truth and what would be the fate of Oedipus. Oedipus, on the other hand, chooses to deny the reality that has confronted him. He ignores the word of Tiresias and continues on his journey to find the supposed killer. His search for a murderer is yet another instance of irony. Oedipus, determined to find the one responsible for King Laius's death, announces to his people (lines 247–53):<ref name="Powell 2015" />{{rp|466–467}}

{{Poemquote|text=I hereby call down curses on this killer&nbsp;...
that horribly, as he is horrible,
he may drag out his wretched unblessed days.
This too I pray: Though he be of my house,
if I learn of it, and let him still remain,
may I receive the curse I have laid on others.|char=|source=|title=}}

This is ironic as Oedipus is, as he discovers, the slayer of Laius, and the curse he wishes upon the killer, he has actually wished upon himself. Glassberg (2017) explains that “Oedipus has clearly missed the mark. He is unaware that he is the one polluting agent he seeks to punish. He has inadequate knowledge”.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Glassbery |first1=Roy |title=Uses of Hamartia, Flaw, and Irony in Oedipus Tyrannus and King Lear |journal=Philosophy and Literature |date=April 2017 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=201–206|doi=10.1353/phl.2017.0013 |s2cid=171691936 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Sight and blindness ===
{{Primary sources|section|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Photo Milan, Teatro Manzoni. Vittorio Gassman during the performance of the tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles 1955 - Touring Club Italiano 04 2242.jpg|thumb|Vittorio Gassman as Oedipus]]
Literal and metaphorical references to eyesight appear throughout ''Oedipus Rex''. Clear vision serves as a metaphor for [[insight]] and [[knowledge]], yet the clear-eyed Oedipus is blind to the truth about his origins and inadvertent crimes. The prophet [[Tiresias]], on the other hand, although literally blind, "sees" the truth and relays what is revealed to him. Only after Oedipus gouges out his own eyes, physically blinding himself, does he gain prophetic ability, as exhibited in ''[[Oedipus at Colonus]]''. It is deliberately ironic that the "seer" can "see" better than Oedipus, despite being blind. Tiresias, in anger, expresses such (lines 495–500):<ref>Johnston, Ian, ed. ''Oedipus the King''. Saint Louis: Saint Louis Public Schools, 2004. https://www.slps.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=22453&dataid=25126&FileName=Sophocles-Oedipus.pdf .</ref>{{Rp|11}}

{{Poemquote|text=Since you have chosen to insult my blindness—
you have your eyesight, and you do not see
how miserable you are, or where you live,
or who it is who shares your household.
Do you know the family you come from?
Without your knowledge you’ve become
the enemy of your own kindred|char=|title=|source=}}

=== Tyranny ===
{{Primary sources|section|date=October 2024}}

Oedipus switches back and forth calling Laius a tyrant (lines 128–129)<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Romm|first=James|title=The Greek Plays|publisher=Modern Library|year=2017|isbn=9780812983098|pages=}}</ref> and a king (lines 254–256)<ref name=":1" /> throughout the duration of the play. This is done as a way to make Laius his equal in terms of ruling. Laius was a legitimate king, whereas Oedipus had no legitimate claim to rule. Oedipus's claims that Laius is a tyrant hint at his own insecurities of being a tyrant.<blockquote>The tyranny brought down the way it was, what

"troubles" could keep you from looking into it?

For even if a god weren't forcing this on you

you shouldn't leave it festering so, and this

the case of a noble man, your murdered king.</blockquote>