Oedipus the King: the Perfect Tragedy

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Lastly, we continue to see Oedipus’ good nature even toward the end of the play. At this point, he is now aware of his fate, and how he has unknowingly adhered to every single aspect of it. He is now aware of his mortal curse, his incestuous marriage, and his murder of his own father. Oedipus rushes into the palace to find Jocasta dead, having committed suicide (Sophocles, 218). He then takes the broaches from her robe and stabs them into his own eyes, disfiguring himself to blindness, ultimately, admitting that he has been oblivious and blind throughout the play. He then comes back out and makes the following request: "drive me out of the land at once, far from sight, where I can never hear a human voice" (Sophocles, 213).Oedipus, now blind and powerless, has fallen from grace. Knowing he is the corruption of the land, and that he could never coexist with Thebes, he requests official banishment from Thebes. He has now fulfilled the final element of a tragic hero.

Overall, although a good man, Oedipus suffers from limited free will. Oedipus is given a predetermined future, once he simply cannot correct. More importantly, Oedipus suffers for unknown reasons, similar to the story of Job in the Bible. Job is described as a “perfect, blameless and upright man” by god by himself, yet, is handed over to Satan (“The book of Job”, 607). He loses all of his property and suffers from painful sores on his body. Job is left in puzzled. Similarly, the tragedy of Oedipus the King depicts the same issue. In which, a man who is considered to be upright by many is punished by the gods for unknown reasons. It is important to remember that there is no necessary flaw in the character of Oedipus that leads to his misfortunes.

Works Cited

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. (translated by David Grene) Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991. Print

“The book of Job”. The Bible. Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.

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