Second, in Oedipus the King, it seems that there is little divine power appearing in the play. No god trying to help or hinder people. We see only twice that the Delphic oracle foretells Oedipus’ fate. In fact, Sophocles seems to present human intelligence of Athenians without the interference of the gods; for example, Oedipus probes for truth by using his human reason step by step. Therefore, we can say the gods in the play are silent and indifferent.
Third, in Medea, the divine power rarely shows up. The only one we see is Helios, the God of Sun, who provides his dragon-drawn chariot to his granddaughter in the final scene when Medea intends to flee from Corinth. Therefore, we can say Helios’ interruption is partial and somewhat slight.
To sum up, with less divine power in the plays, we see more human civilization of mankind. From Agamemnon to Oedipus the King, we see the divine power declining but more human sentience shining, that is, not totally obedient to the gods anymore, people start searching self-knowledge. That is a sign of civilization. From Oedipus the King to Medea, we see less and less divine power running but more personal emotions and inner motives arising. All in all, the more human consciousness or reason people show, the more civilized they are.
