Oedipus: The Harsh Realities of Life and Fate

Life is tough. As struggling college students we all know this, we work hard to earn good grades, meet new people, pay off students debts, and deal with the ups and downs of everyday. Nonetheless we still try to be morally good people. But sometimes life and fate still slap you in the face. This is the point Sophocles was trying to make in Oedipus Rex. His point was especially relevant back in his day when there were still power struggles going on and life had more challenges than it does today. When we read the play today, we take a slightly more optimistic view; however, the play’s main point is still relevant: fate is something that is one day you must face, whether it be as an infant, when Laius could have killed Oedipus ending the ordeal, or as a grown man, when Oedipus finally faced his fate.

A section of the play that illustrates this point is lines 1483-1496:

“Die, die-whoever he was that day in the wilds who cut my ankles free of the ruthless pins, he pulled me clear of death, he saved my life for this, this kindness-Curse him, kill him! If I died then, I’d never have dragged myself, my loved ones through such hell […] I’d never have come to this, my father’s murderer-never been branded mother’s husband, all men see me now! Now, loathed by the gods, son of the mother I defiled coupling in my father’s bed, spawning lives in the loins that spawned my wretched life. What grief can crown this grief? It’s mine alone, my destiny-I am Oedipus”

This selection illustrates the idea that if Oedipus had died as an infant, as he was would have if his parents original plan had worked, he would not have been cursed as he is now. But since he didn’t, he had to face his fate later in life. Oedipus was a generally good man (he saved a whole city), he made rash decisions, but overall he looked out for the good of his kingdom. He wanted to fix the epidemic that overcame the city, cursing whoever killed the king. In the end, his curses fell upon himself causing him to gauge his eyes out and exile himself.

There are a few word choices in these lines that affect the way we understand the story. One word is “dragged”. The word dragged is an aggressive word that implies others being involuntarily forced along. From Oedipus’s viewpoint, this is very much what happened. His prophecy and actions have brought down his whole house, with a limited amount of the action coming from anyone besides Oedipus. Other words a translator could have used include “pulled” or “forced”. However, neither of these words adequately create the picture in readers’ heads of Oedipus suffering through hell and dragging everyone he’s close to with him. Another word that caught my attention was “hell”. This was a very violent word that painted a clear image in readers’ minds. Others words such as “agony”, “misery”, or “despair” could have been used instead of specifically stating hell. However, using the location emphasizes the gods’ role in fate and his life. The physicality of hell also makes the passage affect the reader more because the reader can see hell as a horrible place, whereas “agony” is not a location with an image associated with it.

When making detailed examinations of this passage, my understanding of the play shifted. I found it puzzling that the great Oedipus who saved the city from the Sphinx would rather have died in infancy than lived at all. Is a single event in life really that tragic and unable to be overcome? Can he not find joy in his life before the fateful day at the crossings? And did he not learn that in the end he’ll regret rash decisions such as stabbing pins into his eyes? The intensity in which he says everything about himself and how awful his life is caught me off guard. The harshness made me see the other end of the spectrum, the idea that one can accept what has happened and move on. In conclusion, the passage does show the point that life can be harsh and fate catches up to you, but in a way the sharp way Oedipus speaks makes readers realize there may be other options too.