Travis Phulnauth

Classics 301
Professor Grizelda McClelland

Oedipus Rex

The unknown is a primal fear of humanity that engulfs every aspect of life in some way.
Sophocles’ ”Oedipus Rex” is the story of a man who fights against the unknown just to succumb
to its fear. Oedipus’ story is known for his tragic fate of having married his mother and
murdering his father. However, it is often overlooked that Oedipus was not always so
downtrodden but actually could have been seen as a heroic figure. Prior to the revelation at the
end of the play, one could arguably look at Oedipus’ life as having won his story. He defeated the
sphinx, married the queen, and ruled as King until he desired to keep seeking the truth. Since
Oedipus knows of his fate early in the play due to the oracle, one could potentially see the entire
play as the flow of fate. Despite the fatalist tones that could be seen, Oedipus could also be seen
as a victim of his curiosity and his success. In E. R. Dodd’s “A Misunderstanding Of The
Oedipus Rex”, Dodd refutes the fatalist take and instead pushes the narrative of Oedipus
succumbing to humanity’s proximity to perfection. In the case of the ancient greeks, this
perfection or divinity is represented in the Olympian Gods and the mythological world. In the
story, Oedipus can be seen as overcoming the mystical world by defeating the sphinx using
humanity’s greatest weapon, intellect. Even the answer to the Sphinx is the literal human
condition, as it is man that walks on 4 legs in the morning, two in the day, and 3 at night. It is this
conquering of the sphinx that sets the tone for Oedipus’s downfall being one of knowledge as
well. Oedipus’ need to peer into the “machinery” of the world and see how the gods see, is what
leads to his downfall. This is not as a resignation to fate, rather it is the need to progress that
leads to downfall. While Oedipus is shown as conquering the mystical world, he is not portrayed
as a typical hubristic hero but of one that is genuinely concerned with what's going on. The
words of the oracle are inevitable but that objectivity is what causes Oedipus to throw out the
oracle's words. They come back to haunt him rather than exist in the back of his mind and eat at
him. This also speaks to the nature of the play as a tragedy because of the recognition of the
tragedy. For Oedipus, it is the recognition of his fulfillment of the prophecy that causes him to
cut himself off from humanity and blinding himself. Oedipus is not a proud character who
offends the gods and suffers the consequences. Oedipus could be seen as Icarus who strays too
far and gets burned. Oedipus could have stayed king with his mother without knowing, but
instead he had to know. That isn’t very arrogant per se, but instead a very human need to know
that is an inherent flaw. This causes us to wonder whether Oedipus could be seen as the worst of
us because of his fate or as the best of us because of the actions of his life. The conclusion of
Oedipus’s life does not take place in the “Oedipus Rex” and this is why the tragedy can’t be seen
as one of arrogance but one of ambition.