38 pages • 1 hour read
SophoclesOedipus Rex
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Apollo and the Light
Apollo is a terrible presence throughout Oedipus Rex. The god of the sun, light, poetry, medicine, and prophecy, he was revered as one of the highest gods of the Greek pantheon. He and his light represents fate—a massive force beyond human comprehension or human steering.
In spite of receiving a number of unambiguous prophecies from Apollo’s oracle, the people of the play still suffer doubt. At one point, the Chorus marvels that, if the prophecies don’t prove true, Apollo will fall from his throne: “Nowhere Apollo’s golden glory now— / the gods, the gods go down” (210). Firm religious faith and a belief in oracular wisdom don’t seem to offer the people of Thebes any certainty; then as now, part of the difficulty of living in the world is not only discerning the truth, but accepting it once it’s been revealed.
The Crossroads
Oedipus’s murder of King Laius happens at a fateful place: “O triple roads [..] the secret,/dark ravine, and the oaks closing in/where the three roads join…” (244). Crossroads are an ancient symbol of choice, and here they fit into the play’s questions about free will and fate. While Oedipus appears to have choices—for instance, he could have not killed the rude man who accosted him at the crossroads—every choice he makes takes him toward his terrible destiny.
The fact that three paths meet at the crossroads also prefigures the incestuous conjunctions of Oedipus’s eventual marriage to Jocasta, when three connected bloodstreams—Laius’s, Jocasta’s, and Oedipus’s—will queasily unite.
The Chorus
The Chorus, in its different capacities, serves a complex role across the course of the play. Moving between its function as representative of the Theban citizens, commentator on the action, and worshipper hymning the gods, the Chorus often synthesizes the play’s dramatic, religious, and social dimensions. When this play was originally performed, the Chorus would also have provided elaborate dance routines and songs, helping to alleviate the concentrated pain of the narrative.
The Chorus serves as a bridge between the action onstage and the audience, mediating the play’s horrors in order to bring about catharsis in Sophocles’s audience—the unburdening emotional release that was the expected result of ancient Greek tragedy. When they tell Oedipus, “I pity you but I can’t bear to look,” they speak for us all and allow us to look by enacting our reluctance (239).
Related Titles
By Sophocles
