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... unfilled his destiny but because he alone knows that he must fulfill his destiny. Although blind Oedipus cannot see, he sees what he must he do before he is to leave the world. When Oedipus own sons betray their father he still remains focused on his revenge and he dies at the end but only after he has had his revenge on those who he planned it on and after his daughters are safe from the threat of Thebes and its inhabitants and rulers.
Sophocles made it so clear that Oedipus was a representation of hope in Oedipus at Colonus that other playwrights, such as Seneca, a famous Spanish playwright, used characters after Oedipus in his tragedies. However, In literary quality, Senecas tragedies will not bear comparison with Greek tragedy. (Baade XV). Sophocles made Oedipus such a sign of hope for Seneca, that he began writing tragedies of that stature. (Baade XIV). Since Oedipus wasnt allowed exile from Thebes to the mountains by Creon, he was forced to live in the palace as Creon was the king and his two boys grew up to be men. When he finally leaves Thebes and wanders for many years as a beggar with his young daughter Antigone by his side as his guide. His life is so wretched that he feels death creeping up on him, but he knows he cannot die until he has had his revenge. (Melchinger 154).
An oracle is given to the people of Thebes that the town where Oedipus is dead and buried will be at peace. Knowing of this oracle, Oedipus still continues on to Athens to seek refuge and redeem his sins. The play describes how Oedipus approaches death, and how political power tries to seize him in order to secure its own salvation. (155). Throughout this escapade, Oedipus remains loyal and true to his destiny before he dies in anyway, by force or by act of the gods.
This is why Sophocles allows Oedipus a choice of where he should die, because he is so concentrated on the well being of his daughters and on his fates. One main point of why Oedipus is an icon for all hope is his interaction with the king of Athens/Colonus, King Theseus. Throughout mythology, King Theseus was known for his kindness and goodness and his willingness to help people. When this poor, old, blind, broken down Oedipus enters Colonus and Theseus speaks to him for the first time, he quickly agrees to help the poor man with anything that he asks of him because he knows what suffering he has had and what his life has been like since birth and the fact that Oedipus has carried on this far amazes the young Theseus who is willing to care for this poor beggar: Such kindness-who could reject such a man? First, in any case, Oedipus is our ally: by mutual rights we owe him hospitality I respect his claims, Ill never reject the gifts he offers, no, I will settle him in our land, a fellow-citizen with full rights. (Sophocles 323).
These gifts Oedipus offers are the desecration of his body. When he dies he must be put in the grave of the city where he chooses to die and that city will never have disputes and will remain in peace forever. When blinded Oedipus entered Colonus, Theseus vowed to him he would protect him always and never let anyone take him away against the will of Theseus: I do know this: no one can take you away from here against my will. Men have threatened for ages, blustered their threats to nothing in their rage I know my name will shield you well, youll never come to grief. (Sophocles 325).
When Creon comes to Colonus to take back Oedipus and give the proper burial he deserves in his true homeland, Theseus steps in and holds true to his word, his name did shield Oedipus. (Roche 158). Before Oedipus should die and be buried, be buried in Athens, he must continue with his atonement for his sins and purify his soul before he may enter the afterlife. (Roche 159). In this part of the play Sophocles makes use of that Oedipus is a sign of hope and the fact that Theseus will guard Oedipus makes it evident that Theseus believes in Oedipus hopes and desires. Theseus knows Oedipus will properly fulfill his destiny and he has hope in him that Oedipus will die in Athens after his soul is cleansed of all evil, and then all will be at peace. Sophocles has built his plays on the audience knowing the outcome of the end of the play. In Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles constructed scenes to get the most out of the ironic contrast between appearance and reality. (OBrien 32).
In the play Oedipus seems to the characters in the play to be a poor, blind, helpless old man with no hope or meaning in life. Yet to the audience Oedipus seems like a strong and confident man who after suffering so much, after what no ordinary man could live to bear through, will not die until he is cleansed of all evil deeds and dies when he so chooses to. In conclusion, it is evident that Oedipus is a very big depiction of hope, not only in Oedipus at Colonus but also in Oedipus the King. Although he seems to the audience in one play as a honest and loyal man who suffers great damage, and in another one who should die and not live the miserable life of not seeing and knowing what you have done in your past.
However, careful analyzing of Oedipus will lead the audience to believe Oedipus will not die until he is a pure man, his destiny is fulfilled, and he has a chosen a resting place for all eternity. Works Cited Baade, Eric C. Senecas Tragedies: Oedipus, Trade, Agamemnon. Collier-Macmillan Limited, London. 1969. Readings on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus.
Fitzgerald, Robert. Green Haven Press, San Diego, California. 1997. Melchinger, Siegfried. Sophocles. Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. , New York, New York. 1974. OBrien, Michael J.
Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood cliffs, New Jersey. 1968. Roche, Paul.
The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles. The New English Library Limited, London. New York and Scarborough, Ontario. 1958. Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus The King, Oedipus At Colonus. Penguin Books.
New York, New York. 1982, 1984. Sophocles: A collection of critical essays edited by Thomas Woodward: Oedipus at Colonus. Whitman, Cedric H. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1966.
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