‘Oedipus the King’ was written by the Greek playwright Sophocles. Though a tragedy, like many from the Greek classics, it is laden with meaning that finds relevance even today in the modern world. The story contains a riddle about a murder and how it politically affects the state.
The story, in a few words, is about the downfall of a brave warrior. This theme recurs in all cultures and can be found in almost any literature in the world. Since the theme is universal, folk cultures are replete with ballads to depict such tales. With the development of literature, classics are spun around evergreen issues such as these.
With the passage of time, such tales gain new plots and sub-plots. As more and more people hear about such tales, regional variants of the same tale arise. At each time, the tale gets new meaning based on the conditions at the place.
Without taking the plot into consideration, the relevance of the theme has not diminished. The theme of downfall has an unbroken chain right through the ages. The same is the case of the appeal of the theme among the masses.
The implications of the story in the modern context specifically the present day world are examined in the backdrop of the story. The story of Oedipus is given at the outset. This is followed by its relevance in the 21st century.
The play begins with the citizens of Thebes imploring their king to rid them of the plague in the city. The king Oedipus sends his brother-in-law Creon to an oracle who informs that the murder of the former king Laius should be solved to rid them of the disease. Oedipus sets himself on this task.
The prophet, Tiresias, alleges that Oedipus had killed the former king. Oedipus despises the prophet and commands him to leave. Tiresias obeys him but adds cryptically that Oedipus would have to undergo incest that would eventually make him physically blind. He would become unpopular and wander aimlessly.
Oedipus tells this to his wife, Jocasta, the queen. She says, "No skill in the world, nothing human can penetrate the future" (Sophocles 636 line 781). She reassures him that another prophet has said that her husband would be killed by her son. She adds that this did not occur as the son born to her was left to die and Laius was killed by a group of thieves later.
This news disturbs Oedipus as he had killed a person before who seemed like Laius. He decides to gather information from the sole witness to the killing, a shepherd. He is also haunted by another prophesy according to which he would kill his father and marry his mother.
This prophecy had made him leave Corinth and he ended up finally in Thebes. Jocasta reassures him again on this count. He then learns that his father had died of old age. Jocasta is happy to know that the prophecy had not come true. Oedipus is still not sure and worries that he would marry his mother. Jocasta again rejects this feeling.
The messenger who informs Oedipus of his father’ death reveals that he was not the real son of the king of Corinth and that he was given to them by a shepherd. The child had been forsaken by the king Laius. Oedipus now wants to find the shepherd and learn the truth behind his birth.
Jocasta is filled with fear and sorrow at hearing this and asks Oedipus to stop. Oedipus is certain that his fears were coming true. He summons the shepherd who reveals that he indeed was the son of Laius. Oedipus is pained that the prophecy had come true.
“A stranger, you may think, who lives among you, he soon will be revealed a native Theban but he will take no pride in the revelation” (Sophocles 630 line 513). He had killed his father and married his mother. He finds that Jocasta had committed suicide. He takes her brooch and gouges out his eyes. He then implores Creon to kill him and awaits his fate.
Oedipus comes across as a vain and treacherous king who does not even fear the gods. "You pray to the gods? Let me grant your prayers." (Sophocles 623 line 245). He cannot deny his own past and is helpless against the manner in which it lashes back at him.
The theme of incest brings up an incident that had occurred in Europe. A couple was married and had children. They realised very much later that they were long lost siblings. However, the town where they lived was a mature one which did not show any anguish against their present status. The people there wanted the couple to forget their past and continue as life partners.
In the story of Oedipus, he is consumed by shame and guilt at the incest that he had committed with his own mother. In contrast was this town that wanted to forget and let the couple move on with their life. The very fact that society rallied behind the couple was strength enough that could help them tide over the upheaval in their lives due to this issue.
This tragedy also reminds one of incidents that had occurred toward the last two decades of the previous century but whose repercussions are still being felt now. The themes of Oedipus are missing in the picture but the dictatorial style is common to both the narratives. It shows the fall of the mighty in both the situations.
One cannot help but mention the name of Saddam Hussein who had all the odds in his favour at one time. However, vanity led to his downfall and subsequent death. Like many other nations in the Arab world, he was a dictator in Iraq. His sole backing was that of the oil resources in his country.
He waged a protracted battle with Iran where the odds were stacked heavily against Iran. Iran had undergone the Islamic revolution by then and had become very conservative under the influence of fundamentalism. Saddam’s Iraq, though also an Islamic nation was relatively forward and did not have as repressed a society as that of Iran.
Iraq had the upper hand in the Middle East which made it seem like an Arab versus Persian conflict. Iraq had the backing of the powers at that time given its oil rich status. Saddam is guilty of using chemical warfare against the Iranians which had shocked civil society of those days.
Things came to a head when Saddam invaded Kuwait on the pretext that Kuwait had been a province or Iraq formerly. This led to the famous war with the US in the early 1990s.
Things did seem to settle down after Saddam was defeated in the war. However, the no- fly zone in major parts of Iraq restricted the influence of Saddam. He lived incognito in Iraq until he was apprehended. He was hanged to death eventually like a common criminal. Saddam had started out as a promising and charismatic leader but had an undignified end. This is where parallels can be drawn with Oedipus.
The story of Oedipus shows the interplay between fate and free will. It goes beyond the patricide and ensuing incest as shown in the classic. Fate is only indicative in the sense that here was a king besieged by the plight of Thebes, who wants to find the reason behind the ills afflicting it.
Whether fate comes to fruition or not is in the hands of the individual concerned. While such a setting may be fictional and not have recurred, the underlying message echoes through the ages and is relevant even today, in the 21st century. Ultimately, man would be judged by his deeds and not by his status in society.
Works Cited
Sophocles. Oedipus the King; The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Norton and Company, Inc, 1984. Print.
