Oedipus Assignment 1: Pages 159 - 185

1)  Right from the start of Oedipus Rex, the King of Thrace demonstrates his hubris.  Oedipus refers to many people as his children, including priests who already have a paternal role.  Oedipus demonstrates his pride when he tells his priests: "you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus" (9-10).  The king also is constantly reminding his people that he has the throne.  A few times he tells others how his worries are much greater than those of fears that the plague has brought.  All this talk is simply trying to convince others of his suffering for his people and greatness as a leader.  This talk has obviously succeeding in demonstrating Oedipus' power because even Creon addresses him as "my lord" (117).  Now Creon, being Oedipus' brother-in-law, plays a role as a messenger and does not have as much power as the king (or at least if he does, he is much more modest).  However, when Oedipus is being informed by Tiresias of what he has done, the king tries accusing his relative Creon to get himself out of the "hot-seat".

2)  The chorus calls upon a few gods and goddesses to help the citizens of Thebes.  They call Athena, Artemis, and Apollo originally.  They have so much trust in these three figures that they say and believe that they are a "triple shield against death."  Now this death has come from the very powerful and depressing plague that has already take away the lives of so many.  The chorus tells of a magnificent achievement of the deity that they are calling and ask for them to return and perform such an action again.  Yet at the end of their song, they cry out to Dionysus instead of Athena, and like Apollo and Artemis, they praise the god of wine and ask him to come save the people from the plague.

   There is a certain aspect of dramatic irony that is enjoyable to watch.  Even though we know the end product, we still enjoy seeing such a tragedy happen not to us but a "fictional" character.  Often times though in such a production where you know the ending, you begin to question the reality of the events.  You sometimes judge a characters decision based on your knowledge of the future.  In many instances you might consider the action (or inaction) to be so fake.  Yet in the Oedipus, although the audience could be thinking why does he not get the first hints from Tiresias, this not understanding seems realistic for Oedipus because of his pride.  This hubris is one of his downfalls here and is the reason he is unable to accept his harsh reality.  Oedipus does resort to verbal violence and false accusations (in the case of Creon).

3) However, in Oedipus' speech to the chorus, the audience hears many ironic sayings.  In the beginning Oedipus says: "I will speak out now as a stranger to the story, / a stranger to the crime" (248-9).  Now the king believes all that he says in this speech and continues and curses the murderer of Laius.  This is obviously ironic because he is the murderer. When Oedipus proceeds in his speech, he then talks about Laius.  Oedipus had never thought he had met him, and says: "So I will fight for him as if he were my father" (301). Yet the audience knows ahead of time that Laius is really Oedipus' dad, and the tragic irony is that he had slept with his mother (but he will not find out about this until later).

4)  The discussion between Oedipus and Tiresias is very interesting.  Into the palace comes a blind man who works with Apollo and, according to the leader, is very important because "without him we have nothing but old, useless rumors" (329).  Here is another case where we have a blind man who tells the truth.  Now Oedipus refers to this man as a master in the beginning (this action is a first that has been introduced to the audience).  Yet as the conversation progresses, and Tiresias continues not to reveal any of the truth, and Oedipus becomes angry.  Unknowingly the king twists the truth out of the blind man, but he is so enraged that he misses his fate and needs it to be proclaimed again so that everyone could understand.  Yet even though at the end, as Oedipus walks back into the palace, leaving Tiresias talking, the king had once again convinced others that he was right in saying that the "truth" was a lie.  Even the leader agrees with Oedipus as he says: "I would suggest his words were spoken in anger" (460).  With such large pride, Oedipus may not feel the "Oh sh*t moment for a while, while already the entire audience has felt it.