FREE ESSAY ON OEDIPUS:WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

OEDIPUS:WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Autumn xxxx
English 102
April 6, 2000
When Bad Things Happen to Good People 
The true Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles (496-406 B.C.), adheres to
Aristotles (384-322 B.C.) definition of a tragedy. The first criterion of a Greek tragedy
is that the protagonist be a good person; doubly blessed with a good heart and noble
intention. Sophocles reveals immediately at the start of the play that Oedipus is such a
man. As is common in the Greek tragedy Oedipus is also an aristocrat. Born of the King
and Queen of Thebes he is of true nobility. Oedipus on the other-hand believes his
parents are the King and Queen of Corinth. Oedipus was abandoned as a baby and adopted by
them. Because that information is known to the audience, and not to Oedipus prior to the
start of the play, it is a perfect example of tragic irony because when he declares that
he will find the murderer he is the man that he pursues. Here he is told by Tiresias," I
say you are the murderer you hunt" (1235).
The theme of Oedipus the King is not clear-cut. The theme in this tragic play seems to be
you can't escape your fate. Contentment leads to ignorance as Oedipus lends fate a hand
in his bitter end. This trait is touched-on in these lines spoken by Creon. "Look at you,
sullen in yielding, brutal in your rage- you'll go too far. It's perfect justice: natures
like yours are hardest on themselves"(Sophocles 1242-1243). 
Oedipus is a true hero in the Greek tragedy. He has the fate of the community in his
hands along with the noble character to take care of it himself. He announces his
convictions to take this problem into his own hands and do whatever is necessary to lift
the curse. Oedipus addresses the priests assembled before him, " You can trust me; I am
ready to help, I'll do anything (Sophocles 1225). The city has this faith in him and the
priest come to tell him so he will help them lift the curse. "Now we pray to you. You
cannot equal the gods, your children know that...But we do rate you first of men,"(1226).
He also appears to have Apollo's ear, which makes him seem all-powerful to the audience;
this is another standard of the classic Greek tragedy. Oedipus told his people, "After
painful search I found one cure: I acted at once. I sent Creon, my wife's own brother, to
Delphi-Apollo the Prophet's oracle- to learn what I might do or say to save our city"
(1226).
Following Aristotle's qualifications of the tragic hero Oedipus does have a tragic flaw
as is standard in the Greek tragedy. Oedipus has a character flaw that brings his end.
Although it cannot be summed-up in one word there is evidence that his flaw may be
ignorance or blindness to his own fate. This ignorance unearths a pride that is revealed
though out the play. As when Oedipus tells the chorus/city' "You pray to the gods? Let me
grant your prayers" (1231). Oedipus is too content with himself and his life to see his
end coming. He throws caution to the wind when he kills a man who is old enough to be his
father. This was done shortly after he had gone to see Apollo."-and the god Apollo
spurned me, sent me away denied the facts I came for, but first he flashed before my eyes
a future great with pain, terror, disaster-I can hear him cry,' You are fated to couple
with your mother...you will kill your father, the one who gave you life" (1246)! Oedipus
goes to great lengths to keep his fate from being played-out. He thinks running away will
stop his role in things to come. And in his marriage to an older woman, he seems to tempt
fate by not questioning his choice, when he knows there were doubts about his being a
true blood relation to his parents. This is revealed to the audience when Oedipus says,
"Some man at a banquet who had drunk too much shouted out-he was far gone mind you-that I
am not my father's son" (1245). There are many choices he makes that can only be
accredited to his blind faith in himself. Which is displayed in a blindness that is
transmitted throughout. Oedipus refuses to believe Tiresias because he is a blind man and
he tells him, "You've lost your power, stone-blind, stone-deaf--senses, eyes blind as
stone!'-'this fortune-teller peddling lies, eyes peeled for his own profit-seer blind in
his craft!"(1235). But Tiresias not only foretells Oedipus' fate but also predicts his
physical blindness when he tells him, "I pity you, flinging at me the very insults each
man here will fling at you so soon' ... 'This day will bring your birth and your
destruction"(1235-1236). Even though Oedipus is told time and again. His unremitting
blindness keeps him from seeing the whole truth and allows him to live a contented life
as king. 
The revelation in this play comes shortly after Oedipus' wife tells him, The heralds no
sooner reported Laius dead than you appeared and they hailed you king of Thebes" (1244).
His response to this news tells volumes, "I think I've just called down a dreadful curse
upon myself--I simply didn't know" (1244). He then refers to Tiresias' vision
dualistically, " I have a terrible fear the blind seer can see" (1244). After Jocasta's
late-breaking news, Oedipus recounts the essentials of when he killed a man at a triple
crossroad because the story correlates to the murder of Laius. He then begins to feel
Apollo's hand in this. "Wasn't I born for torment? Look me in the eyes' ... 'Wouldn't a
man of judgment say ... some savage power has brought this down upon my head" (1246).
The reversal in this play comes after Oedipus puts all the pieces together. The messenger
who comes to tell of Polybus' death is surprised to find that this news brings Oedipus
relief. He then proceeds to recount the actual facts, "Well then seeing I came with such
good will, my king, why don't I rid you of that old worry now...Polybus was nothing to
you, that's why, not in blood" (1251). Unknown to the messenger this news only adds to
Oedipus' worry's. The truth is coming too close when the messenger says, "The one who
gave you to me, he'd know more...He called himself a servant of... Laius (1252). Jocasta
now knows the truth and begs Oedipus not to question him further. "Stop-in the name of
god, if you love your own life, call off this search! My suffering is enough ... may you
never fathom who you are" (1253). But his commitment to discern his true origin will not
stop the tale from unfolding. He tells a servant to fetch the man that the messenger
spoke of. The shepard comes and after much pressing reveals Oedipus' birth parents and of
his fate known at birth:"...the child came from the house ... of Laius...If you are the
man he says you are...you were born for pain" (1256). Upon hearing this Oedipus can no
longer think of himself as good or hide from his fate," O god- all come true, all burst
to light! O light- now let me look my last on you! I stand revealed at last-cursed in my
birth, cursed in my marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands" (1256)!
Here is where the roles are reversed and he becomes the blind man who has seen more than
he cares to. After Oedipus has blinded himself Creon comes to console but also to do his
duty to the gods. Oedipus is to be pitied when he says, You'd ask the oracle about a man
like me?'...'By all means," Creon replies, "And this time, I assume, even you will obey
the god's decrees" (1263). Which is Sophocles' intent that Oedipus take responsibility
for his misgivings and transcend human limitations. 
The audience could not possibly watch this misery unfold without feeling pity, for
Oedipus, or being frightened by the extent that he is willing to go to redeem his
ignorance to the gods. After the audience has been told all, the chorus reminds everyone
of his great measures, "You outranged all men! Bending your bow to the breaking-point you
captured priceless glory'...'you rose and saved our land" (1257). He might have been able
to hide the facts of his birth from the people but then he wouldn't be the man of great
integrity and unwavering character that the audience admires. Here Oedipus tells the
chorus, "Now I've exposed my guilt, horrendous guilt, could I train a level glance on
you, my country men'...'Impossible" (1261). 
If Oedipus had acknowledged Apollo's power when he first learned of his fate would he
then have been able to change it? He seems to be an unwitting pawn in an elaborate game
of Apollo's, as Greek gods were fabled to do, and here he asks it out loud. "My god, my
god- what have you planned to do to me?"(1244). Was Oedipus right to refuge himself from
the visions and facts to then be crowned king and idolized before he banished himself?
Oedipus did defeat Apollo in some ways. Because he was able to out run his fate until
after he had lived a full and successful life. And only then when the city was being
destroyed did he resign himself knowing that he could not allow the people to suffer for
his deeds.
Works Cited
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th ed. Ed.
Michael Meyer. Boston. Bedford/St. Martin's. 1999.