Destiny in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King

In ancient Greece, the purpose of drama was, according to various philosophers of the time, to present moral messages through the presentation of already well known narratives such as the story of Oedipus. In doing so, the dramas were dramatically ironic, and did, therefore, serve as a type of moral reminder to Dionysian festival attendees. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Sophocles asserts that prophecy is unavoidable because the gods have been, and always will be, in control of destiny.

During the time that Oedipus the King was written and performed, the fifth century B.C., Athens had made significant strides in art, architecture, economics, and academics—history and philosophy were in fact born during this time period (Jaeckle 9). As people continued to advance intellectually, they began to question the role of the gods within society. The question of the age was essentially: “If we can make progress on our own, why do we need to rely on the gods or prophecy?”

Sophocles’ Oedipus represents a contemporary Athenian who symbolizes human progress: “Oedipus the King is a dramatic embodiment of the creative vigor and intellectual daring of the fifth-century Athenian spirit” (Fagles 140-41). As Robert Fagles argues in his introduction to Oedipus the King (143 et hoc), Oedipus represents the transition between savagery and progress (in the sense of civilization, politics, and intellect of the fifth-century). Oedipus’ vocabulary, logical thinking, and attempt to escape prophecy are all representative of the fifth-century man. Thus, Oedipus represents human progress, and his downfall is all the more important.

The play opens with the assumption that the audience member is familiar with the myth of Oedipus, which itself contains th...

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...hat the prophet was in the dark. When Oedipus gouges out his own eyes, he enters the realm of darkness which is associated with insight. The insight which Oedipus gains is contrary to the enlightenment views, he realizes that prophets and prophecies should be revered because they are from the gods, and they cannot be explained nor can they be altered by mortals. It is, as Freud would argue in his theory of the repression, impossible to completely purge oneself of religion (Jaeckle 9).

In a time of great intellectual and philosophical change, Oedipus the King, quite arguably better than any other work of Greek literature, exemplifies the ominous reality that the gods really do work quietly behind the scenes. Sophocles’ carefully asserts that no matter how advanced a society becomes, its citizens must remember that the gods have allotted them that advancement.