Oedipus Rex Universal justice through Oedipus
Oedipus Rex Universal justice through OedipusThrough the character of Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Sophocles shows the futility and consequences of defying the divine order. In going to the oracle at Delphi, he was informed that he “should lie with [his] own mother” and “breed children from whom all men would turn their eyes” (42). In addition, he is told that he “should be [his] father’s murderer” (42). Oedipus, in an attempt to escape his destiny, he flees from Corinth. Oedipus served Thebes as a great ruler, loved by his subjects; but it is his one tragic flaw, hubris, which dooms his existence, regardless of the character attributes that make him such a beloved king.
From the opening dialogue, we sense the character of Oedipus. When confronted by his subjects praying for relief of the plague, he reacts appreciatively. “Tell me, and never doubt that I will help you in every way I can; I should be heartless were I not moved to find you suppliant here” (4) is the reaction that he gives, followed by many others, that give us the impression that he is also an arrogant ruler. He obviously cares for the people in his kingdom by saying that “each of [them] suffers in himself alone hi anguish, not another’s; but [his] spirit groans for the city” (5). The pity he feels is rooted not only in his love and sympathy, but his arrogance as well. Perhaps this attitude is duly deserved, for Oedipus had solved the Sphinx’s riddle, an apparently heroic feat, and was seen to be greater than any man, but the leader that he had become, still possessed the hubristic tendencies which doomed him from the time he fled Corinth.
It is impossible to speculate what may have happened to Oedipus if he remained in Corinth. Nevertheless, he attempts to avoid his fate that dooms him to not only to fulfill the prophecy, but also to suffer yet greater consequences. To think that he himself has the power to circumvent the prediction from the Oracle of Apollo, shows that he did not feel humbled before Apollo. Punishment for this lack of faith takes the form of
“A rust [that] consumes the buds and fruits of the earth; the herds [being] sick;
children [dying] unborn […] all the house of Kadmos is laid waste, all emptied, and
all darkened: death alone battens upon the...
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