Oedipus

 “Think no longer that you are in control here, but rather think how, when you were, you served

your own destruction?”

                What makes Oedipus Rex so very powerful?  One answer is clearly that one must feel pity for the falling king, for indeed this emotion is what Sophocles intended.  Also one must feel catharsis in the end, the purging of this aforementioned sorrow from your hands.  The dramatic  irony of the play most fully capacitates the feeling of catharsis, for the observer cannot but feel pity for the King’s blindness – much before he gouges his eyes with the brooches.  Whether the opinion of Oedipus is one of a heedless fool, a mortal marionette, or a tragically honest hero, the dramatic irony is constant.  Through three episodes the motif of tragic dramatic irony will be traced to ultimately dramatize the point that without some form of dramatic irony, Sophocles could not have achieved the desired catharsis at the close of the play.

            The quote at the head of the paper is especially apropos to the cathartic topic on which this analytical paper is based.  These are the words of Kreon to Oedipus at the end of the play ordering to leave Thebes at once.  Oedipus at the commencement of the play decrees that “he [the murderer of Laius] be driven from every house”.  Since Oedipus is the murderer of Laius, he is sealing his own fate – albeit unknowingly.  Later in the play Oedipus says, “I think that I myself may be accursed by my own ignorant edict.”  Indeed Kreon’s final words to Oedipus glaringly illustrate the point that Oedipus indeed did serve his own fate.  The critic Barstow claims that Oedipus acts rashly and therefore suffers the consequences. “His disposition to act without thinking started him headlong on the way to ruin.” Oedipus’ first decree in the play does in fact start him on his long and winding road of ruin, but there are far more factors that contribute to his ultimate destruction.  The one factor, however, is his heedlessness and blindness to the multitudinous instances of potential anagorises. This “blindness” is no better captured in the scene between Oedipus and Jocasta.

            That Oedipus is not fully aware of his identity in the scene between he and his wife / mother is the greatest instance of dramatic irony which the play has to offer.  Jocasta says to Oedipus, in reply to Teiresias’ dire prophecy, “You will find no man whose craft gives knowledge of the future.”  Furthermore, and more damning is her “proof”.  Jocasta’s proof that there should be no credence given to the soothsayers is a “false” prophecy that was given to Laius and her before Oedipus was born.  “Thus Apollo never caused that child to kill his father, and it was not Laius’ fate to die at the hands of his son as he feared.  That is what prophecies are worth!”  Since Sophocles’ audience would have been fully cognizant of the veracity of the prophecy, the irony of this line is great.  It however is magnified by Oedipus’ recollection of another “false” prophecy.  The fact of the matter is that the two prophesies are the same, to the finest point.  The dramatic irony is unbearable, and Oedipus even mutters, “Ah, what net has God been weaving for me?”  By having Oedipus realize, even on the most subconscious level, that he is “cursed by his own edict” Sophocles makes the fall of Oedipus less of a heedless one.  His search for truth now is one of ferocity, however as Oedipus becomes more cognizant of the truth of his birth his search becomes more pitiable and tragic.  He speaks in such lucid terms concerning his murder of Laius when he is not aware of his true birth, and then in denial he seeks the truth – whether it damn him or free him.  By the inclusion of the lines of partial anagorisis, Sophocles provides a much more dramatic final epiphany.  It is this crucial final epiphany that lends itself so very well to the audience’s feeling of catharsis. 

            Since Oedipus is partially cognizant of his true birth, even subconsciously, Sophocles is presented with a difficulty: How can he keep the dramatic irony plausible?  Sophocles achieves the dramatic irony in the last part of the play (up to the epiphany) I two ways – Oedipus’ blind ignorance and Jocasta’s antagonism.  If Oedipus is the hero, and his goal is to learn of his true birth, Jocasta is his fiercest opponent and antagonist.  “You [Oedipus] are fatally wrong, may you never learn who you are.”  If this isn’t antagonism, I don’t know what is!  Oedipus, misguided as he is, presses on, “I will not listen, the truth must be known.”  Oedipus’ unstoppable desire for truth is his ultimate demise, as was his brashness.  All at once he cares not what the consequences will be of his final “truth”, while not even giving thought that there might be consequences.  Sophocles in truth presents two Oedipi – the lucid Oedipus who speaks the telling lines, “I think that I myself may be accursed by my own ignorant edict.” and the heedless Oedipus who says, “I am a child of luck; I cannot be dishonored.”  Truly there is so great a difference between knowledge and wisdom.  Oedipus has all the knowledge of the crimes that he has committed, he however has not the wisdom to apply them.  Oedipus, therefore, is a tragic hero, who heedless of the world around him, seeks to find his own truth – consequences be damned! The dramatic irony is the only element of the play which Sophocles can employ to create this twofold mien.  The double Oedipus unites as one at the anagorisis. “O light, may I look upon you for the last time.”  He was blind when he saw, and with his sight restored Oedipus plunges himself into eternal darkness.

            Sophocles by means of a final epiphany, shows that Oedipus has found his truth.  The hero has fulfilled his goal, knowledge.   Ah, but Oedipus is a tragic hero, and his sought knowledge came at a price.  The price was his innocence, his ignorance.  To Oedipus ignorance was bliss and hell.  He suffered from a lack of knowledge, and then he suffered from the attainment of the knowledge.  In truth the whole of Oedipus Rex is a dichotomy, the man who searches for truth damns himself because of its attainment.  The man’s virtue is his downfall.  The dramatic irony is the truth to one Oedipus, and at the same time is the impetus for the other to seek the truth.  In the anagorisis the two Oedipi are united as one, as the dramatic irony comes to light.  Sophocles therefore makes Oedipus both triumphant and pitiable at the same time.  Without the dramatic irony there could be no catharsis felt by the audience.  If Oedipus would have been damned only by the gods, his blood would have stained the audiences hands.  Since Oedipus ignored many a portent and plea, he sowed his own fatal oats.  Sophocles, by means of dramatic irony, therefore ensured that the audience is left in no way culpable for Oedipus’ downfall.  Thus, they have their catharsis.