To what end does the god-fearing culture of ancient Greece affect the plot outcomes of Oedipus Tyrannus?

In the tragedy of Oedipus Tyrannus, the divinities of ancient Greece – called ‘daímōnes’ in the classical Greek – are beings of great power and unpredictability; qualities which made them feared amongst their human devotees. This fear of the Gods and their powers was the primary driving force of the Grecian fatalistic culture. In this essay, I shall explore how the god-fearing culture that is deeply entrenched in Grecian society – depicted via narrative exposition – is employed by Sophocles as a plot device, which allows the Greek pantheon great agency in Oedipus Tyrannus. 

In Oedipus Tyrannus, the narrative exposition of the Grecian fatalistic culture occurs throughout the tragedy. The premise of the play is set in the Prologue, when the Oracle of Delphi advises Oedipus to ‘make those who killed Laius pay’: ‘Someone must be exiled, or a death must pay for a death.’ The Oracle of Delphi, a maiden blessed with the prophetic powers of Apollo, acts as an intermediary between the mortal and divine and is a receptacle for the wisdom of the gods in the mortal realm. This advice issued by the god Apollo’s mortal representative is a display of divine influence in mortal matters and shows how the influence of the gods powers the fatalistic Grecian culture and is what allows the gods a great say in the lives of their followers. Furthermore, the acceptance of the conditions for receiving the divine blessing of Apollo is the first instance of primacy given to divine figures – as Apollo’s words are adhered to by mortal royalty. In short, Sophocles effectively uses the divine Grecian pantheon as a plot device. This establishes the gods as a constant presence with a certain gravity and power that is recognised by the citizens of Thebes. This constant presence is what gives them a direct hand to play in the making of the tragedy. Furthermore, Sophocles reveals the cultural context of the play via ‘The spilling of blood has brought this storm upon the city.’ The idea of pollution or miasma was deeply entrenched in Greek society, and those who committed impious acts – the source of the miasma – travelled to find purification, as seen in Oedipus’s orders and the Oracle’s words. Here, the sacred nature of tragedies as offerings to the god of revelry, Dionysus, is revealed. The divine nature of the tragedy, combined with the idea of miasma establishes that no human life can be taken lightly because the gods play a huge role in every life, reiterating the fatalistic culture of the Greeks. Tragedy treated as an offering to the gods serves as a divine sanction of the play, giving it a gravitas and texture that is felt by the audience.

Oedipus Tyrannus showcases the divine impression that is deeply entrenched in the Greek community: individually and communally. The relationship between a Grecian mortal and their gods is first revealed via Creon’s journey to the Oracle of Delphi to seek wisdom for combating the plague. Oedipus – by sending his brother-in-law Creon – sets precedents for the import that the gods hold in Greek culture in two ways: firstly, by way of sending a member of the royal family and not a palace messenger to Delphi, Sophocles demonstrates respect and fear that the gods command from their followers and sets up the context of the fatalistic culture. Secondly, by first soliciting the advice of the Oracle of Delphi in the Parodos and later that of Tiresias in the First Episode, both of whom are blessed by the gods with prophetic sight, Sophocles establishes the influence and power that the gods hold and wield. By recognising the power of those blessed by the gods, Sophocles reveals the cultural respect for superstitions, the supernatural, and the divine. The act of sending ‘the son of Menoeceus, Creon, my own brother-in-law, to Apollo’s shrine in Delphi’  being the first step Oedipus takes to resolve the crisis also establishes a religious protocol followed in times of great need: again, a depiction of how deeply ingrained the gods are in the lives of their mortal worshippers. Sophocles’ choice in depicting this scene demonstrates the compelling relationship that the gods and mortals have, further expanding the involvement of the gods in mortal affairs, as well as the employment of the gods as a plot device. 

The depth of the divine impression upon the Greek community can be seen when the priest supplicating to Oedipus in the Prologue takes great care to position Oedipus on a lower pedestal than the gods in prestige and power. During this distinction, the priest does raise his king to the past precedent of how Oedipus – aided by the gods – ‘delivered us from the toll that we paid to the remorseless singer.’ This past precedent is again a display of the power of the gods, and how only through their chosen champion Oedipus was Thebes saved. Gods are invoked throughout the play as Chorus in the Parodos blames ‘Ares, the destroyer, the fiery god’ for Thebes’s misfortunes; how ‘black Hades is growing rich’ as the dead speed ‘to the coast of the god of darkness’; and finally, the Chorus invoking ‘Father Zeus’, ‘deathless Athene’, ‘sister Artemis’, ‘Phoebus the archer’, and ‘Bacchus too’ to stand ‘Against Ares, a god dishonoured among gods’. As the Chorus invokes Zeus and his divine progeny, they reiterate aspects of the fatalistic Grecian culture, signalling to the reader the importance of such invocations as well as the responsibilities the gods hold as protectors of the moral and natural order. This is in direct contrast with the plague-bringing Ares, the evocation of whom establishes the shifting nature of the gods. This shifting nature brings another dynamic to the fatalistic culture, making the gods both saviours and destroyers. Reiteration of the culture is seen again in the First Episode during the agṓn of Oedipus and Tiresias in the First Episode when the Chorus advises Oedipus to ‘unravel the god’s oracular words’ with the help of Tiresias, and when the Chorus, in the Second Stasimon (Choral Ode) explains how the loss of faith in the powers of the Oracle and Apollo from the side of Jocasta and Laius has brought about the ruin of Thebes and Oedipus himself as ‘And nowhere is Apollo openly honoured. Religion dies’. These lines establish the Chorus’ role as body reminding the audience of the Grecian fatalistic culture, while remaining a neutral, commentative, advisory body to Oedipus. Here, Sophocles uses the Chorus as a medium through which every aspect of Grecian society – explicit or implicit – is made clear to the audience. Furthermore, as many characters swear upon and invoke the gods throughout the tragedy, Sophocles reveals the sacredness of the oath-taking, and how the gods are so deeply entrenched in society that divine oaths and invocations are not to be taken lightly.

The influence of the gods is seen again when Laius and Jocasta ignore the prophecy of Delphi. Disregarding the warning of a son borne of them who is destined to kill his father, lay with his mother, and be brother to his children, Oedipus, ‘child of unholy parents’, is born in the Second Kommos. As Oedipus is revealed to be the murderer of his father, husband to his mother, and brother to his children, perpetrating patricide and incest in one go, Sophocles builds the moral landscape of ancient Greece. While having Oedipus commit two of the gravest moral violations in ancient Greek culture, Sophocles reveals the punishment for these violations of nature via the wrath of Apollo then unleashed to restore balance to the natural order, thus fulfilling the prophecy that Laius and Jocasta chose to ignore. The perspective of the Gods is brought into view when horrified Oedipus says that besides he ‘There is none more curse, and, what is more, no mortal more hated by the gods’ in his moment of anagnorisis. This brings into the foray that a force bigger than man is in play as Oedipus faces utter rejection at the hands of society and at the hands of the gods. The entire scene dealing with Oedipus’s divine punishment builds the moral foundation of Grecian society, establishing the natural and moral laws and the consequences for their violation. In this way, Sophocles employs the mythmaking of Oedipus as one ‘shunned by the gods’ in the Second Kommos; ‘the godless polluter of the land’ to be forever part of the Greek moral landscape: a parable telling the tale of what happens when one violates natural law. 

Furthermore, Sophocles uses this occasion of great horror to further expand the peephole into ancient Greek culture. The idea of a formless god is introduced in the Second Stasimon by the Chorus as the sacred laws that Oedipus has broken. Said to have been crafted and sent from Mount Olympus as depicted in the Second Stasimon, ‘The god within them is great and does not grow old’. This expands the pantheon from physical forms of gods to a formless, lawful god. By ascribing divinity to the laws of the divine, Sophocles expands the moral horizon of the play, allowing the divinities of Olympus an increasing hand in the fall of Oedipus. The Messenger, in the Exodos, remarked that ‘some god must have guided him (Oedipus) for no man did’ in his madness. The Messenger’s lines again stand testament to usage of the Greek pantheon as a plot device and to the power of the Grecian divine in influencing mortal lives. However, Oedipus makes a clear distinction that while Apollo might have guided the course of events, it was Oedipus himself who raised his hand and caused all the misfortune that befell him. Even in his moment of peripeteia (reversal of fortune), complete moral degradation and the fall from his status of hero to perverter of natural order, he makes no move to blame Apollo for his misfortune, his god-fearing culture deeply ingrained in his identity and actions.

Conclusively, Sophocles has demonstrated the intimate involvement of Greek pantheon in the lives of mortals, how they constantly act as driving forces propelling the storyline forward, and how they were an involved and constant presence, while remaining unseen among their devotees. In my eyes, Sophocles has succeeded in making the reader realise the gravitas of the Grecian pantheon in the fatalistic culture: carefully constructing the development of the characters while intricately weaving them around the entrapping webs of the gods.

Works Cited:

Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles; Part of Cambridge Translations from Greek Drama; Cambridge University Press 2003.