Rauf 1

Saim Rauf
Sir Sameer Ahmad
ENG 3102
6 November 2015
The relationship between man and god in Oedipus Rex
Oracular destiny determined by the deity can be seen in the play which portrays the Greek
myth of Oedipus. Socrates believes that humans rule themselves with a combination of fate and
free will. But fate always dominates over the free will. The same can be seen in the case of
Oedipus as this combination leads to the destruction of the protagonist. The reason why this sui
generis piece of art is being studied up to now is that it portrays the Greek society very sincerely.
The relationship of man and god at that time was very complex and the importance of oracle was
extraordinary as exhibited by Sophocles. A lot was not understood in ancient Greece and science
was at its initial stages at that time. So it was thought that gods and fate are behind the happening
of every single thing. This topic is very important because gods were considered the rulers and
protectors of the place but Sophocles shows the other side of the picture. The play proves that
man has no free will but is a puppet in the hands of the gods who pull the strings that make him
dance.
The play can be considered as The Machine of the Gods which means that the gods are
actually causing the play to happen. It can be seen in the case of king Laius who was warned by
an oracle that his son would slay him and marry his own mother. So both Laius and Jocasta
decided to kill him by sending the three days old infant to Cithaeron hills (a form of infanticide)
as there will be no chance of life for the newborn. (Tradition has it that his name, which means

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``swollen-foot, `` was a result of his feet having been pinned together). The Shepherd who was
ordered to leave Oedipus on the mountain to die became an instrument of the gods plan. He
along with another Shepherd, both tempted fate, but in a way that was pleasing to the gods.
Because of their actions, the oracle was able to come true. The shepherd, who witnessed Laius's
death, exiled himself out of guilt. On the other hand, Oedipus tries to avoid the prophecy and
decides to flee and vows not to see his parents until they have died. But he himself enters into the
vortex of trouble by making an odyssey towards Thebes. On the way, he kills his father due to
anger but it was a coincidence. He solves the riddle of Sphinx and becomes the savior of the
people. They consider him as their hero and want him as their king. So in this way Oedipus
marries his mother and fulfills the prophecy. Sigmund Freud chose the term ``Oedipus complex``
to designate a son`s feeling of love toward his mother and of jealousy and hate toward his father.
This was in his fate although these were not the emotions that motivated Oedipus`s actions or
determined his character. All the efforts to avoid his horrible fate went in vain. So it can be said
that fate is an all-powerful and inescapable idea, derived from the will of the prevailing and
menacing gods. We will now consider this rebellion to the divine commandment with that of
Abraham: who was ordered to sacrifice his only son as I now discuss.
Oedipus and Laius both made attempts to rebel and thereby prevent the oracle's coming true.
On the other hand, if we consider the example of Abraham then we find that Jahweh commanded
him to sacrifice his only son. Like others, he could also choose between two alternatives. But he
decided to obey without any resistance. As this would involve only a single action, the horror of
which would not lie as it would for Laius. ``In the simplicity of old testament narrative, the
compliance of Abraham is immediate, so that somehow his human weakness, his fallibility, never
seems to have a chance to operate``(Herbert S. Weil, JR. 337).

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The Greek people believed on the prophecy very much and thought that no one could escape
from it. They saw fate as a force that could not be avoided except Zeus, who is considered as the
only one who could defy the fates. It was an Ancient Greek belief in the ability of the Gods to
dictate and direct a persons life, absolutely. The characters tried to thwart the prophecy which
made the gods angry and their fate met in a more terrible way.
Thebes was being punished for Oedipus' sin, and the king was not in a position to say mea
culpa as he was totally ignorant towards that. He calls upon Tiresias's, a "blind prophet," to learn
the truth. Tiresias tries desperately not to tell Oedipus, as knowing the truth will destroy the King
and perhaps even fearful that the King's anger might ruin Tiresias. However, the King is
relentless, demanding the truth. So the old man tells Oedipus what he has done:
``Striking you from both sides the terrible sounds of your mothers and fathers
curse will drive you from this land``... (Sophocles 338-440)
Although, in Oedipus Rex, the gods are the ultimate guarantors of retribution, the divine order
has no room for the moral sentiments of human beings. Consider that the herdsman acted from
the noblest motive of pity for an innocent baby when he saved Oedipus from an early death and
delivered him to a far cruel fate. In a sense, Oedipus Rex illustrates what Original Sin would be
like without the apple: Oedipus merits his fate simply
"I shall be no true man if I do not all that the god shows" (77), "I mean to
Leave nought untried" (145) - these are only a few proofs how
Willing he is to do everything to avert the destruction of his city
At the hands of the demon of the plague.

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But it was not only the gods game to play with Oedipus`s fate. There was some other thing
that fueled the actions of the play and drove them from beginning to the end. It was free will.
Before discussing the role of free will and actions in the case of Jocasta and Oedipus and how it
led them to meet their fate we firstly need to know the definitions of fate and freewill. According
to the Oxford Dictionary of English, Fate is defined as the development of events outside
persons control predetermined by a supernatural power (Fate). Free will is, however, the
power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate, (Free will). People at that time
believed in the prophecies and thought they were inescapable. When Jocasta comes to know that
her baby would slay her husband that she decides to kill her. This shows that she believed in the
prophecy otherwise she would have hesitated once before killing her three days old infant.
Jocasta had thrown her baby out of the picture just to protect her husband`s fate although she
herself knows that she could have done nothing to change Laius`s fate, but she desperately did it
anyway. So if she believed in the prophecy than she has tried to play gods role through her
freewill. And if she didn`t believe in the prophecy than she has committed a sin by trying to kill
her own son.
When he realizes the truth, Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes. The chorus asks him
that by what god was he urged to blind himself. In reply Oedipus says,
It was Apollo, friends, Apollo, that brought this bitter bitterness, my sorrows
to completion, But was the hand that struck me was none but my own.
(Sophocles 52)
By analyzing the play from different dimensions, we find that Sophocles presents a fraught
relationship between man and god. The protagonist confronts the most ambiguous of gods. The
relationship between man and god stays erratic throughout the play. The gods who are supposed

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to control human fate also manipulate in the human`s free will. We can see that fate dominates in
each and every single case. It commences from the survival of Oedipus, who survives as an
infant on the hills and turns out to be a catalyst in carrying out the reaction which leads to
destruction. The two elements which start this reaction are his parents, who remain within the
domain of fate but although thinking, that they had deceived the gods and changed their fate.
What Sophocles tries to tell us is that mankind has the ability to make choices free from the
influence of divine forces. Although what is in our fate is bound to happen but the track which
one can choose to reach that fate may differ through our decisions.

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Works Cited
Silberman, Lauren. ``God and Man in Oedipus Rex``. College Literature 13.3(1986):292-299.
JSTOR Web 4 Sept. 2015
Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Lahore, Pakistan: Famous Products, 2015. Print.
Weil, Herbert S. `` The Oracles and the Action``. Texas Studies in Literature and Language 10.3
(1968): 337-348. JSTOR. Web 20 Sept. 2015
Fate. Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998. 3rd ed. Print.
Free will. Def. 2. Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998. 3rd ed. Print.
Miller, J. Walter. `` Universality in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex``. The Classical Journal 24.3(1928):
214-216. JSTOR Web 20 Sept. 2015
Barstow, Marjorie. Oedipus Rex as the Ideal Tragic Hero of Aristotle. The
Classical Weekly 6.1 (1912): 2-4. JSTOR Web 20 Sept. 2015
Dodds, E.R. On Misunderstanding Oedipus Rex. Greece And Rome 13.1
(1996): 37-49.
JSTOR Web 20 Sept. 2015