“Have you heard anything about classical theater? Do you have a favorite author or a favorite play from that time? Have you heard about Oedipus? Do you have a favorite topic you’d like us to discuss? Or we can continue talking about Oedipus.
I would like to start with the death of Oedipus. Sophocles explored this legend extensively. Sophocles presented a trilogy on stage about the legendary King Oedipus. The first play is “Oedipus Rex.” You might have heard of this play. The second is “Antigone.” The last one, written when he was 93 years old, is “Oedipus at Colonus,” which speaks about the death of Oedipus. After he finished it, but before the performance came on stage, Sophocles died, so it was brought to the stage by his grandson, who had the same name and was quite peculiar.
I would like to start with the death of Oedipus. Sophocles explored this legend extensively. Sophocles presented a trilogy on stage about the legendary King Oedipus. The first play is “Oedipus Rex.” You might have heard of this play. The second is “Antigone.” The last one, written when he was 93 years old, is “Oedipus at Colonus,” which speaks about the death of Oedipus. After he finished it, but before the performance came on stage, Sophocles died, so it was brought to the stage by his grandson, who had the same name and was quite peculiar.
Now let’s delve into the story. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, a very tragic figure. His destiny was to be used by the gods as a tool for their revenge and punishment against his parents, Laius and Jocasta, the royal couple of Thebes, because they were hubristic and offended the gods in several ways.
When Oedipus was 18 years old, he discovered his destiny through the Oracle of Delphi. However, he didn’t know that the couple he believed to be his natural parents, the king and queen of Corinth who had adopted him, were not his real parents. Determined to avoid his fate, he decided never to meet them again, because the Oracle had said he would kill his father and marry his mother. To escape this fate, he left what he thought was his family in Corinth, the royal family, and journeyed to Thebes.
On his way to Thebes, he met an old man who was very offensive towards him, the young prince. They started exchanging harsh words, and Oedipus pushed the man, causing him to fall from his chariot, break his neck and die. Unbeknownst to Oedipus, this man was his natural father, Laius, the king of Thebes. So, he killed his own father, the king of Thebes, without knowing who he was.
His destiny, as revealed by the Oracle of Delphi, had made him desperate and melancholic but Oedipus continued his journey. When he encountered the Sphinx, he solved its riddle. The beast committed suicide and the people of Thebes were very happy that he had saved Thebes. Considering him a stranger, they decided to make him a member of the royal family. The grateful people of Thebes decided to make him their king and offered him the widowed queen, (his mother) Jocasta, as his wife. Believing Corinth was his hometown, he accepted the gift of the widowed queen, never to go back to Corinth. He married Jocasta, older than him, not knowing she was his mother. They had four children: two twin sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. Oedipus was happy with his family and his people, unaware of the truth.
One day, while walking in Thebes with Jocasta, his mother and wife, he thought that the people’s happiness was due to his wisdom and governance. However, happiness is not achieved by humans. Happiness is offered to the human from above, from the gods. At that moment, from the other side of the road, a blind man, a force named Tiresias, appeared with foam coming out of his mouth, screaming and accusing Oedipus saying, “You thought you are the most wise. You thought that you were able to give happiness to your people, but you are the most cursed one. You are the one who killed his father and married his mother.” Oedipus had kept this secret, thinking no one knew, but it was the very thing he had tried to avoid his entire life.
Oedipus was shocked, but Jocasta was even more so. She was the first to realize what had happened. She ran back to the palace and hung herself. Oedipus followed her, took her garment pins, blinded himself, and asked his daughters to take him away. They brought him to Athens.
In the final part of this trilogy (Oedipus at Colonus) Oedipus and his two daughters, desperate and in a dire situation, angry and tired, arrive in Athens. They sought a place to rest and found a small park or garden, unaware that it was the Sacred Precinct of the Furies. By entering that place, they committed another sacrilege. Have you heard about the Furies? Entering into that place, they made another violation.
The Athenians saw them and ran to Theseus, the king of Athens, to report the sacrilege. They called him to see the two young ladies with the blind elderly father. When Theseus arrived and spoke with them, he discovered who they were and felt great pity for them. As they finished revealing their identities, lightning flashed in the garden of the Furies, and a big voice called Oedipus to come closer. Oedipus asked his daughters to prepare him for his funeral while he was still alive.
His daughters did what they could to prepare for the funeral, and Theseus’ men escorted the blind Oedipus out of the interior of the Sacred Precinct of the Furies. The gods then invited Oedipus to Mount Olympus and offered him ambrosia and nectar, making him part of the divine nature.
This ending was unexpected for the Athenian audience. Oedipus had committed terrible crimes, the most awful and disgusting crimes for an immortal, yet the gods showed him compassion and mercy. Aristotle commented on this, explaining that Oedipus didn’t commit hubris. The tragedy on the stage was not the case of hubris. Oedipus tried to avoid his destiny, which was terrible. He tried to avoid his terrible destiny but couldn’t because it was his portion in life given by the gods. Oedipus loved to do the right thing but missed the target, which made the gods compassionate towards him.
Aristotle used the term ‘ ἁμαρτία (hamartia),’ a military term meaning ‘missing the target,’ to describe Oedipus’ actions. He was the first to use this military term as a religious term, missing the target. And since then, this term is used for the sin that we do but we hate it. This term was adopted by the New Testament to describe human sin. But hubris, in the New Testament, is the term left for Lucifer and the people who follow the Luciferic sin. So, the sinner, regardless of the degree of his sin but who hates his sin, has room for repentance on the stage of Athens. Aristotle explained that the sinner who hates his sin has room for repentance, a concept introduced on the Athenian stage in the 5th century BC. This tragedy of Oedipus raises many questions about humans and the gods.