Evil In Oedipus The King

Costen King
ACP 110
February 14th, 2016

Oedipus Tyrannosaurus

An interesting point that you brought up in class was the phrase Basileus; this phrase was brought into discussion by the term Persian Basileus while discussing what other leaders were alive at the time of Oedipus. After some research into this phrase I have made some very interesting findings. A Basileus is the greek term for a ruler that has arisen from power fairly and honorably, most likely either voted into power by the republic or serving his lineage on the throne. But the same greek word, with a different definition, tyrant, or tyrannos, is the negative connotation of the same phrase. It is someone who came into power any other way: murder, treason, wrongdoings, etc. Oedipus- who clearly has a slew of traits that are suited for both denotations of the singular meaning, is harder to classify. With him

being as complex as he is, there are attributes of both phrases that would support him accordingly. However, one of these terms so aptly correlates with the narrative that is Oedipus’ life, and that is he is obvious fact that he is a tyrant. But this term is not so simple as to just blanket it onto Oedipus himself and call it a day. Through complex recognition of his actions, thoughts, and feelings one can conclude that he is a tyrant, a hot headed, slanderous ruler. But the even more interesting question is what prevents Oedipus from being beseeched with the title of Basileus? The two roles of tyrants and Basileus are coexistent in the text of Oedipus, and are fundamentally connected throughout the text.

The tyrant comes to power based upon his or her own doings. They are neither asked to be in power, nor is there any honor or morality in their arriving to do so. In Oedipus’ case it is almost a beacon of meritocracy. Simply put, a meritocracy is when whoever shows themselves to be the best, becomes the leader. In modern day, this is exactly how things are done. Elections are won because someone appeases the most people, and therefore is the best for the most people. We can recall that in the beginning of the play, specifically the conversation between Oedipus and the Priest, there is a firm establishment that Oedipus came to power in tyrannical terms. Specifically, he states “Oh Oedipus, master of my land” (Line 14) which reaffirms that he is the soul supreme ruler of the land. He neither inherited the thrown (rightfully that is) nor through proper usurpation (he did not know Laius was the ruler when murder was committed). He rescued the Thebans from the riddle of the Sphinx,a riddle that no other man had been able to solve prior to him. No one in the city saw that action as malice- they saw it as an act of intellect and community activism. He is the rightful ruler because he helped cure this ailment of the people, or so is the thought process of the citizens of Thebes. He satisfied the needs of the people and became a Basileus to them; but at the same time, one can wonder what may have provoked this man to solve the riddle in the first place. Possibly, the solution stemmed from self righteous intentions to rule, or it could be from a general want to help the city. From this viewpoint, Oedipus position is rightfully justified; his leadership was won over by fair terms from his citizens.

Basileus usually are the great leaders of history. Alexander The Great, The Kings of Axum, and Constantine VI were ll great examples of these kinds of leaders. They are dedicated to their craft and to the passion of their city. One could argue that Oedipus identifying with his city by referring to the collective as “us” and then connoted to himself as the city (Line 331) is reassurance that he is passionate about the good of the city and the welfare of the people. Ideologically, Oedipus does care about his city; he solved the riddle of the Sphinx and continuously tries to solve the plagues that are affecting the city. But the motives behind these seemingly positive actions are tainted by his self motivations to rule. He did not take the task of solving these issues on to please his people. He initiated these tasks to maintain and reassure his position of power among his people. This is yet another example that demonstrates his role in this narrative as a tyrant, and continues to twist his title as either tyrant or Basileus into the unsavorous view of autocrat.

True tyrants achieve their power through violence, by forcefully ousting or betraying the rightful ruler. There was only one reason that there was even an opportunity for the rise to power that ascended after the solution and that is because of the murder of Laius. More specifically, how he murdered Laius himself unknowingly. His position as a tyrant is restored after this viewpoint is inspected. While he sits on the throne because his people viewed him as the best, he is only on the throne because of tyrannical practices that led to a violent act. Whilst he did not know that the man he murdered would turn out to be the old king of Thebes, and indeed his father, there was still a violent act that led to his rule. In this way, he does represent a tyrant by displaying acts of violent to gain the throne.

Oedipus continues to display tyrannical qualities by over inflating his presence and role as a leader. He states “Oh pitiable children” (Line 58) referring to his townspeople. There is not a crowd of children in front of him though, there is a crowd of townspeople. By asserting himself as the leader, and almost father figure of the group, he asserts his dominance over everyone within the town. This is a very tyrannical characteristic to display. Instead of representing his people, he views himself as his people. This would not be a problem if he did not view his own needs and wants as those of his people- which is not true. Oedipus believes that his want for the people to get better is based solely in his compassion for his citizens. However, his want is based upon his need to continue to justify himself as a Basileus, and to show his people that he is their savior. His failure to realize his true intentions presents him to us, the readers, as a tyrant.

All of this information synthesized together creates a problematic report.

While the entire plot to this point, leads up to us believing that Oedipus is a brutal tyrant. As the text continues on, he is exposed as the true-born Basileus. The throne he sits upon is his late fathers, who he killed. A tyrannical leader who was elected as a Basileus, which sounds like quite the contradiction. Through a sick twist of incest, slaughter, and pure fate, Oedipus is a perplexity in himself. It is not until later that we find out that Oedipus is truly tyrannically by destiny and nature itself. He may of done his best to be revered as just and appeasing to the people, destiny had other plans for him. We see this in the fact that Oedipus believes that he would serve his people the best by being blind instead of dead, even though all of the citizens found out about his wrong doings, and the pain that he has brought upon his city. He believed that he could still be the Basileus to his people, even after his status as tyrant was justified by the actions that carried him into the position as their

leader.

That is why this great play is so immaculately beautiful- Oedipus is both the rightful leader of the city and the scandals tyrant all at once- although unknowing until the very end. He is a perplexity in himself, one that can be studied and looked upon for many more generations to come. The overwhelming amount of evidence for both scenarios is great; he both tries to be the leader that he believes the people need, whilst aligning it with his own personal agenda to maintain his position of power. The one category that has undeniable evidence that is both supported by the destiny, fortune, and misfortune of the play, is that Oedipus was a tyrant to his people. His rise to power, combined with his need to rule, and his methods to continue ruling were all aligned with that of a tyrannical stance. There is an argument that he looks out for his citizens by solving the Sphinx riddle and attempting to rid them of their current plague; however when put into the context that he was the reason for them existing in the first place, these tend to seem like mute points. Undeniably, Oedipus was the most famous tyrant that Greece had ever seen.