Attitudes to religion in the play, Oedipus, the King.

by sc_rahulgrah (student)

International Baccalaureate World Literature

Title: Attitudes to religion in the play, “Oedipus, the King”.

Word Count: 1493

Title: Attitudes to religion in the play, “Oedipus, the King”.

Sophocles’ works are exemplary in that they give us an insight the cultural and social aspects of the ancient Greek society. Like any other society, this one is also founded on the pillars of religion. Through his play, “Oedipus, the King”, Sophocles shows how gods can be villainous and also how the faith in the divinity and in the religious dogmas can be reduced into smithereens, when the God proves himself averse to human interests. It has always been believed that the ancient Greeks were a very religious society. Through this play, Sophocles gives the audience a true vision of the attitudes of the Greek society towards the Gods and their religion. He uses a variety of characters in different circumstances to show different attitudes towards religion in 8th century BC, Greece.

One of the main themes that also serves as a dominating factor in driving the plot forward is that of predestination. Since Sophocles “served for many years as an ordained priest of Alcon and Asclepius”, his views on religion are firm. Probably with the play Oedipus the king, he forewarns the public hat it is impossible to run away from one’s destiny. Man proposes; god disposes. Even a man full of valor and volition, such as Oedipus, is nothing but a puppet before the will of the gods. Sophocles’ play is interwoven around the Delphic Oracle, which proclaimed the murder of Laios, by his son, the protagonist, Oedipus. It is interesting to note that unlike other playwrights who prefer to leave such polemical issues, related to predictions and oracles, untouched, Sophocles takes a firm stance and clearly shows that every prophecy made by the gods is fulfilled. Through Sophocles’ portrayal of this Greek tragedy, his firm faith in God and predestination is established. The play shows how a man’s fate will always overpower his life. Even the wisest man Tiresias says, “The truth will come by itself, the truth will come no matter how I shroud it in silence.” (Sophocles 38, line 460). But all this appears contradictory to the modern world where law and order remains blind to religion and renounces every reference to supernatural phenomenon. If a man’s life is predestined, written before he is born, he has no control over what he does, and in such circumstances can anyone ever be held responsible for the crimes he commits? In ancient Greece it was common to find a man absolved and declared innocent if his crimes were justified as acts of sacrifice to please the gods. Sophocles portrays the character of Oedipus as that of a tragic character more than that of a malefactor. He serves as a puppet to the malignant fate. In the play, “Oedipus, The King” we see that the people consider themselves at the mercy of the Gods. They pray to the Gods for all their problems, the most prominent one being the alleged “plague” that strikes Thebes. However we see that different groups of people in the Greek society have different reactions to the Gods and their prophecies. And the people start losing their faith in the gods when the epidemic continues despite tons of offerings and tributes to appease the gods. Sophocles presents before us the fact that although the theory of predestination swayed the minds of the Greek people, their faith in God and fate was as fragile as gossamer.

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Oedipus has been portrayed as the superhuman savior of Thebes. The common citizens, who come bearing gifts for the palace, look up to Oedipus as a manifestation of God himself. In the first episode Sophocles shows the audience that people of Thebes gather around Oedipus’ altar to offer their oblations. The priest says that there are similar groups of people gathered around the temples of Athena. Does Oedipus wield the same power and influence as Athena? The priest of Zeus praying to Oedipus to help the people of Thebes says, “There was a god in it, a god in you” (Sophocles 25, line 57). He compares Oedipus to a god before the people by proclaiming, “Thebes calls you savior” (Sophocles 25, line 69). In this episode we can see that the people consider Oedipus above God as the God who they have been worshipping is destroying Thebes. The people’s belief that Oedipus can fight the “God of plague” is enunciated by Sophocles, wherein the chorus says, “God’s fire eating everyone, everything, stroke after stroke of lightening, the god stabbing it alive” (Sophocles 24, line 44). But the so deified Oedipus is himself afraid of the power of oracles when he hears a mac, claiming to be a prophet, call Oedipus a bastard The harsh tone and diction used by Berg and Clay while addressing “God” shows how even they believed that the people have started to consider God as a villain and Oedipus as a hero. This is ironic because the audience already knows that Oedipus is the one who is causing the plague and Apollo is the one to cleanse it. The gruesome imagery in the phrase “stabbing it alive” juxtaposes the subject, “God” because god is considered the creator, who will always save lives rather than take them. The priest tells Oedipus “Look, look at it, lord Oedipus” (Sophocles 24, line 30). This is ironic because the audience knows that later in the play Oedipus will blind himself while considering himself unworthy of even looking at Thebes or at the people.

The chorus is an important character in ancient Greek tragedy. The chorus is a chosen set of Theban elders to represent the Theban population. The chorus gives the citizens a uniform voice. In the play we see a contrasting attitude towards Gods from the chorus. Near the beginning we see that the chorus prays to all Greek gods to save Thebes, “o gods be with us now shine on us your three shields blazing against the darkness" (Sophocles 30, line 207). The chorus claims that "terror’s in me flooding me how can I judge what the god Apollo says" (Sophocles 45, line 663). They seem to think highly of Oedipus as well and pray for his well-being. But it does not take much time for the chorus to recant their words and soon the Gods are called treacherous and Oedipus is called an incestuous villain. “But I will not blame Oedipus whatever anyone says until words are as real as things” (Sophocles 46, line 682). Over here the chorus uses the word ‘anyone’ to refer to the Gods, which was very controversial and unorthodox at that time, showing that the chorus had begun to lose their faith in the Gods.

Through the play the audience can also draw a dividing line between God and the oracles. Jocasta shows faith in God but not in the prophecies. She says, “Oedipus, forget all this. Listen to me: no mortal can practise the art of prophecy, no man can see the future.” (Sophocles 55, line 933). She further says, “It said Laios was doomed to be murdered by a son, his son and mine.” (Sophocles 56, line 936). Is it not ironical that Jocasta repudiates the truthfulness of prophecies, but paradoxically she uses another true prophecy to uphold her assertion when she proclaims, “All those oracular voices meant was nothing, nothing. Ignore them. Apollo creates. Apollo reveals. He needs no help from men.” (Sophocles 56, line 948)

According to the critic, Richard Jebb, “Both Oedipus and Jocasta, he points out, do not reject the gods both are reverent, both believe in the wise omnipotence of the gods. But, on the other hand, both reject the gods' moral ministers”. Sophocles dwells on human psychology in the novel and demonstrates the fact that man’s fealty changes to god within the twinkling of a second, but eventually he has to surrender to the will of the god. Sophocles is very clear on the power and ways of god to man. He is of the opinion that a man is safe as long as he is unaware of the prophecy or completely blind to it. Given the power of gods, Oedipus will have to switch roles with the blind prophet, when he blinds himself with Jocasta’s brooches. Thus the power of gods is invincible. Even minor characters such as the shepherd has deep faith in the god when he says, “If you are the man he says you are, believe me you were born for pain.”

At the end of the play Oedipus capitulates before the almighty gods and yells, “LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT never again flood these eyes with your white radiance, oh gods, my eyes. All, all the oracles have proven true.” (Sophocles 77, line 1493). The chorus also feels commiseration for the unfortunate Oedipus, and declares, “Happiness and peace, they were not your unless at death you can look back on your life and say I lived, I did not suffer.” (Sophocles 94, line 1986).

It can be said that the attitude of the chorus and the characters of the play give us an insight into the omniscient and omnipotent power wielded by the gods in ancient Greece. The gods may appear iniquitous or unjustified for a moment but Sophocles illustrates that, ultimately it is their glory and their kingdom.

Bibliography:

Sophocles. Oedipus, The King. Trans. Stephen Berg & Diskin Clay. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.

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