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| Greek Gods |
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| Sophocles |
In Euripides' Ion, Ion asks, “Is the god genuine or his oracles a fraud?” This
was a common question at that time, one that many Greek authors would have had
opinions about. Sophocles wrote his opinion on this topic in his play Oedipus Rex in several round about ways.
In the play, the main character Oedipus, leaves his family. He does this
because a prophet told him that he would one day marry his mother and kill his
father. This causes Oedipus to leave in the hopes of avoiding this fate.
Oedipus doing this shows that he doesn’t trust the gods. This can cause the
reader to believe that Sophocles would believe that the god’s oracles are a
fraud. We must keep reading to discover more.
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| Oedipus Rex |
Later a prophet tells Oedipus that he is
the one that killed his wife’s husband and instead of believing him, Oedipus
gets mad at him. This shows that Oedipus doesn’t believe the prophet which is
sharing what the gods have told him. This leads the readers to believe that
both Oedipus and Sophocles would believe the gods oracles are a fraud yet
again.
Then Oedipus goes on to solve the Sphinx’s
riddle about humans. Then Oedipus tells Tiresius (the prophet), “How riddling
and foolish is all you say!” (Sophocles Oedipus
Rex pg. 26) Oedipus is making it clear that he believes he is smarter than
the gods. This shows that Oedipus thinks that humans can think on their own by
rationalizing and problem solving meaning that he doesn’t need the gods help, especially
if he could solve the Sphinx’s riddle. From this part of the play you can infer
that Sophocles is hinting that intellectualism is helpful but that it can make
us prideful and blind to the world around us. We get this from that story
because the play goes on to prove that the prophecy came true! Even though
Oedipus ran from his family it ended up that they were only his adoptive family
and he ran right into the arms of his mother, married her, and killed his
father. By disbelieving the prophet, Oedipus helped his fate come to be. One
can read into this that Sophocles believes that you cannot escape fate. At the
beginning of the play Oedipus chooses to not trust the god’s oracles but in the
end it hurts Oedipus that he didn’t trust them.
In the beginning of the play we are
tricked into thinking that Sophocles doesn’t trust the gods but then it proves
this thought of ours incorrect by showing us that the oracles of the gods came
to pass. I believe that Sophocles would answer the question in Euripides' Ion when Ion asks, “Is the god genuine
or his oracles a fraud?” by saying that indeed the gods are genuine and his
oracles are not a fraud.
I like the way you analyze Sophocles’ viewpoint as you move through the story. It appears at first that Sophocles may not appreciate or believe in oracles and the gods, but as get further into the story, we see that he really is saying the opposite. He is emphasizing that intellectual capacities, while good in their own right, cannot overcome fate or the gods will. I agree with your analysis concerning Sophocles. He seems to think that the gods are most definitely not fraudulent and that their role in our lives is powerful and pertinent.
ReplyDeleteGreat view and explanation of Oedipus Rex and Sophocles view of the gods. The entire time the oracles and the gods were being true and genuine yet Oedipus lacked trust. If he had only believed them in the first place the whole tragedy would've been avoided. Overall great interpretation of Sophocles view.
ReplyDeleteAshlee,
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you directed the flow of your argument. From reading your analysis, it was easy to see how Sophocles exhibited his belief in the oracle of the gods. Although Oedipus was able to demonstrate his intellectualism and thereby, the ability of man, his pride which led to blindness ultimately demonstrated not only his, but the entire problem of man--his own knowledge. It was this knowledge that led to Oedipus' own downfall, despite his own pride in his abilities. Sophocles thereby demonstrates that men will ultimately fail when they try to go against the gods, which you clearly stated in your paper. Great analysis!