The Role of Fate In “Oedipus Rex"

Q.        What does Sophocles intend to prove and illustrate in Oedipus Rex? Rationalise with arguments.  (PU-1996)

OR

‘Tis not in mortals to avert their doom! Discuss with reference to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. (PU-2000)

OR

            How far can the play Oedipus Rex be described as ‘tragedy of destiny? (PU-2001)

Ans:    Greek theatre was very different from what we call theatre today. It was, first of all, part of a religious festival. To attend a performance of one of these plays was an act of worship, not entertainment or intellectual pastime. But it is difficult for us to understand this aspect of the Greek theatre because the religion in question was very different from modern religions. The god celebrated by the performances of these plays was Dionysus. The worship of Dionysus was associated with an ecstasy that bordered on madness. Dionysus, whose cult was that of drunkenness and sexuality, little resembles modern image of God. A second way in which Greek theatre was different from modern theatre is its cultural centrality: every citizen attended these plays.

According to moral point of view man should remain in his limits fixed by the gods. Over ambition, pride and rashness are responsible for one’s downfall. He must show respect to gods, prophets and social institutions and religious dogmas. Whereas, Aeschylus believes more in the fatalistic and deterministic tendencies of fate, Sophocles gives new dimension to the suffering of man by shifting the responsibility to man’s own character along with the role of fate.

Thus in Sophocles this tragic concept becomes more snared and complicated. In his play, Oedipus Rex, fate is closely related to hamartia. The hamartia of the tragic hero helps the adversity of fate.

In case of Oedipus, his father Laius had the prophecy from the gods that he would be killed by his own son who would marry his mother. Laius was blessed with a son but in order to defy the oracle he planed the death of his child by giving it to a slave to leave him on a mountain, exposed to dangers of all kinds. He also drove a rivet into child’s feet. The slave, however, did not kill the child and handed it over to another shephered who took the child to Corinth and presented it to the childless king of Corinth named Polybus. So Oedipus grew up into a pretty, handsome and well-built young man looking upon Polybus as his father and Merope his mother.

Oedipus grew up without any idea that he was the son of a Theban king. One day he heard the prediction by the Apollo about himself that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He became worried and ran away thinking Polybus his father and Merope his mother. On the road he met Laius’ royal chariot and soon a quarrel arouse about the right of the passage. Oedipus killed the king. Then he proceeded to Thebes and answered the riddle of Sphinx thus became the king of Thebes. According to the custom the new king was to marry the widowed queen. So Oedipus married his own mother Jocasta without knowing that he was marrying his own mother and he had killed his father.

This is very powerful example of relationship between hamartia and circumstances created through the use of free choice. After some years of peace, the city is caught up in the hands of pestilence and famine. There is a prediction by the gods that the city should be cleaned from a pollution caused by the sin of a man. Oedipus most gracefully announces a proclamation wherein asking for the killing or banishment of the said person. It is from here that Sophocle constructs the plot of the play most dramatically and ironically. The hamartia of Oedipus grows very powerful when he accuses Teiresias, the blind prophet for hatching a canspiracy against him in collaboration with Creon. It is quite ironical that Oedipus who is famous for solving the riddles does not understand the clear allusions made by Teiresias. Nor he understands that human knowledge is extremely limited and misleading. It is his hamartia that he bears himself equal in knowledge with gods and prophets. He says proudly:

“But I came by,

Oedipus, the simple man, who knows nothing.

I though it out for myself, no birds helped me!”

Uptill then gods were not willing to reveal the truth but then only to make Oedipus recognise his limitation as a human being, the truth is revealed and thus Oedipus becomes responsible for hastening his tragic end.

It is through the skillful use of reversal and recognition that Sophocles portrays the tragic end of Oedipus. Man can solve the riddle of Sphinx but cannot solve the riddle of his own life. Oedipus forces Tereisias in his anger to utter the truth against his will, though Teriesias forbades him from knowing the reality. The irony becomes more dramatic when Jocasta and Corinthian messanger in order to console Oedipus add to his mental disturbance. He refuses to pay any head to Jocasta’s request of not continuing his search and attributes it to her snobbery and jears at seeking the truth even though it becomes clear that the result will be extremely unfavourable to him. When he came to know the secret of his birth, Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus takes out his eyes and blinded himself. The following speech by Oedipus not only throws light on his tragedy but it also shows the close relationship between fate and hamartia, the use of free will which becomes hamartia.

In conclusion, we can say that in spite of the evidence to prove Oedipus a free agent in most of his actions as depicted in the play, we cannot forget that the most tragic events of his life — his murder of his father and his marriage with his mother — had inevitably to happen. Here the responsibility of the fate cannot by denied. But the discovery by Oedipus of his crimes or sins is the result of the compulsion of his own nature. The real tragedy lies in this discovery, which is due to the traits of his own character. If he had not discovered the truth, he would have continued to live in a state of blissful ignorance and there would have been no tragedy. But the patricide and the incest — these were pre-ordained and for these fate is responsible.

Points to Remember:

1.                  In ancient Greek drama was a part of the religious festivals.

2.                  Sophocles was acclaimed as a master dramatist of his age.

3.                  In Oedipus Rex, hamartia is closely related to fate.

4.                  Both father and son are the victims of hubris.

5.                  Oedipus’ insistence on knowing the truth brings about his tragedy.

6.                  In conclusion we can say that what happens off the stage was due to stroke of fate, but for what happens on the stage, Oedipus is responsible.

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