Synthesis

In the beginning, Oedipus fit the role of “king” extraordinarily well. Seen by his actions in the first few lines, Oedipus is already being excessively selfless by giving himself the responsibility of capturing Laius and defeating the plague. At this point in the play, something already seems off. Only a mad person would take full liability for a kingdom struck by an infinite illness. As the play progresses, Oedipus momentarily shifts his attention from Thebes to himself as he is struck with the new goal of uncovering his true identity. After Oedipus’ reality is finally revealed he no longer pities his kingdom, but rather pities himself.  This is exemplified by Oedipus’ choice to blind himself accompanied by his self-hate. One of the last things he says is “Drive me out of the land at once, far from sight, where I can never hear a human voice”(1571). Oedipus seems to be naïve for running away, however, he is doing so for the better of his kingdom. Even though the consequence is exile he still takes on this punishment knowing that Thebes will return to good health. Oedipus is the epitome of a king, shown when he gets handed the worst case scenario Oedipus continues to prioritize his kingdom over himself.

There is a saying, with great power comes great responsibility, however, does the amount of power that a king receives outweigh all the traumatic experiences he has to go through? Consider president Obama, he has power but also has this overlaying stress of whether the choices he is making are impacting the country positively. How does one classify a “good leader”? Although debatable, there are some universal characteristics when considering this topic. For example, selflessness is a characteristic that is desired in all leaders. No one wants a selfish president or king. However, some leaders may use their power to help themselves rather then society. Overall, what I will take away is that no matter how big or small of a leadership role someone has they must remember that a leader is responsible for not only themselves but also everyone who follows them.

The Noble King Arises

No,

 I'll start again--

I'll bring it all to light myself!

Apollo is right, and so are you, Creon, to turn our attention back to the murdered man 

Now you have me to fight for you, you’ll see: I am the lands avenger by all rights, and Apollo’s champion too. (149-155)

 

This quote shows Oedipus's determination and willingness to help his kingdom. As stated in line 150, Oedipus is willing to "start again" meaning start his search for the murderer of Laius The dramatic irony of the situation is that although the audiences knows the crime he committed; Oedipus is oblivious to the fact that he is the man who killed Laius. Additionally, Oedipus takes full responsibility in capturing the killer. This is seen on line 151, when he says "I'll bring it all to light myself!". Here, Oedipus is saying that he will find who ever killed Laius on his own thus showing his devotion in keeping Thebes safe. Also, noted that this is one of the many times that the motif "light" is mentioned throughout the play. Oedipus is the type of king who listens to what others have to say. More specifically, in this quote Oedipus is taking into consideration of what Apollo and Creon are saying about the death of Laius and agrees that it is essential to find this killer. Also, keep in mind that Oedipus is talking to the people of Thebes. Therefore, when he says "I am the lands avenger by all rights" he is expressing what he thinks his rights are as king. To top it off he calls himself "Apollo's champion". This shows  how highly Oedipus' thinks of himself as the king of Thebes. After all, he did earn his spot by solving the Sphinx's riddle.

*because this is the beginning of the play I created a word collage of all the things that popped into my head when I read this quote. Light is super big because it is an important motif that appears throughout Oedipus the King

 

Looking face-to-face

Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must!

I must know my birth, no matter how common

it may be-- I must see my origins face-to-face.

...

but I, I count myself the son of Chance. (1183-1887)

 

Here, Oedipus is overflowing with a desire to know the truth of his birth. He wants the truth to "burst" meaning that he wants to uncover and breakthrough this mystery of  his lineage. The next line just entails that he does not care "how common" meaning that he does not care if he discovers that his real parents were peasants. In line 1185, Sophocles personifies Oedipus' "origins" by using the phrase "face-to-face". Oedipus does not care how up close and personal the truth gets, he wants to be told directly.  The tone of these beginning lines are very frantic as seen by the use of exclamation points on line 1183. This further shows Oedipus' frustration as well as excitement at discovery this long kept secret. There is some dramatic irony in the phrase "I count myself the son of Chance". The audience knows that Oedipus was thrown over a mountain only surviving because a Shepard found him while Oedipus has no idea. Additionally, in this line the word "Chance" is capitalized giving the word an almost godlike characteristic. This further shows how chance is almost like a god in Oedipus' life. Everything, including sleeping with hims mom and killing his dad could be seen as happenings of "Chance". 




 
"Mirror"
(feat. Bruno Mars)

With everything happening today
You don't know whether you're coming or going
But you think that you're on your way
Life lined up on the mirror don't blow it, woo.
Look at me when I'm talking to you
You looking at me but I'm looking through you
I see the blood in your eyes
I see the love in disguise
I see the pain hidden in your pride
I see you're not satisfied
And I don't see nobody else
I see myself I'm looking at the...

Mirror on the wall , here we are again
Through my rise and fall
You've been my only friend
You told me that they can understand the man I am
So why are we here talkin' to each other again?

*Why this song?*
To me at this point in the play Oedipus is truly looking for a clear image of himself. Literally, the clearest image one can get of themselves is through a mirror. The first stanza of this song is talking about how you don't really know what the future holds. Thia relates to Oedipus not really knowing his true identity.  For the rest of this stanza I can  picture Oedipus "face-to-face" with his true identify, almost not recognizing himself.  Oedipus doesn't understand who he is ,however, he is continuing to pry and uncover the true mirror image of himself.

Personally, I feel like many people out there are still trying to discover and love who they are. I'm not surprised at all that Oedipus is immensely curious with discovering the truth to his existence.  We are constantly changing as seen in the last two lines of the song, "You told me that they can understand the man I am / So why are we here talkin' to each other again". Overall, I am not shocked that Oedipus wants to know who he is. Don't we all spend some time looking in the mirror thinking along the lines of "who am I?"

The Momment of Truth

O god-- 

all come true, all burst to light! 

O light—now let me look my last on you!

I stand revealed at last--

cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage,

cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands. (1306-1310)

This is the exact point in which Oedipus finally figures out the answer to his existence. This is Oedipus' moment of anagnorisis. There is a “burst to light” meaning a burst of truth. Oedipus is clearly disgusted by the truth because he no longer wants to look at this light. Oedipus is very surprised by this “truth”. He really did not expect what Tiresisas said to be accurate. That is why this quote begins with “O god” followed by a pause. In this brief silence, Oedipus is realizing exactly what he has done. The repetition of light serves to show the abundance and how overpowering the light is to Oedipus. He no longer wants to live his life surrounded by the truth. The use of exclamation points and dashes also indicate the intense emotions Oedipus is feeling. The last couple lines are just clarification that Oedipus knows that he has been "cursed". The dramatic irony has been "broken" Oedipus and the audience know the exact same truth.

*This is the big moment in Oedipus the King. The moment where everything comes together at once. In my poem, I used Oedipus' point of view because I wanted to visualize and experience what he was going through. If you look at the poem some of the same words from the quote are used in the poem :) Words like burst, light and truth. I put the poem in the center of a sun image because a sun is overbearing just like how truth of Oedipus' lineage is overbearing.

Drowning in Darkness

“Dark, horror of darkness 

my darkness, drowning, swirling around me

crashing wave on wave-unspeakable, irresistible

head wind, fatal harbor!” (1450-1454)

In these lines, the motif oft the waves and the harbor come up again. However, this time the "waves"  are crashing down drowning Oedipus. After Oedipus stabs himself in the eyes, he is faced with the new challenge of living in a world of darkness. In this quote, dark is repeated three times signifying its importance . Before this point in the play, there were a lot of mentions of light when referencing Oedipus. The people of Thebes viewed Oedipus as Godlike. Now that the truth has been uncovered, a lot of dark horrid things begin to happen. Like Jacosta hanging herself and Oedipus gauging his eyes out. Additionally, these lines bring light to how chaotic Oedipus’s world has become. He is no longer viewed on a high pedestal but rather is “drowning” in his newly uncovered truth. The ship that Oedipus once controlled has been destroyed replaced with what is now a “swirling” mess. In this quote “my” is in italics. This shows how Oedipus continues to take full responsibility. Essentially, Oedipus blames himself for the horrid things that have not only occurred to him but also his kingdom. This is why Oedipus stabs his own eyes out, he is punishing himself with darkness. 

*this poem is written in the viewpoint of Oedipus because as a reader I  believe it is only natural to put myself in his shoes. This poem represents how I would feel if I was in Oedipus' position. In the poem I reincorporated words like "drowning" and "swirling" to further emphasize how Oedipus feels. The sailboat, symbolizing Thebes, is on rocky waters to show how the Kingdom is on the verge of complete chaos. In the poem I reincorporated words like "drowning" and "swirling". Underneath, fueling this chaos, is the poem which is surrounded by the color black. The black represents not only Oedipus' new blindness but also the shadow that has been caste upon him ever since his prophecy was uncovered.

Works Cited:

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984. Print.