Power is given to one that deserves it. For example, if you’re the leader of a country or a president, you must do something beneficial for your citizens to be considered powerful.
Oedipus the King had that kind of power in the City of Thebes. As we can see in the image below, Oedipus is faced by the Sphinx, which is a female creature with a body of a lion and has a human head. The Sphinx had wings of an eagle and the tail of a snake. The monster wouldn’t let anybody in the city of Thebes unless they answer “What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening”? Then the genius Oedipus the king gave the right answer “Man”. As we all know that human beings crawl on all four during our childhood, we walk on two feet during adulthood, and we are all old we use a cane. He was welcomed as a savior into the city after conquering Sphinx.
When asked how Oedipus answered the Sphinx’s question, he said “ I needed no help from the bird; I used my wits to find the answer. I solved it (Oedipus The King, 476-479).
At the beginning of the play, the priest describes Oedipus as the powerful man. We can see an example of it when the priest comes to Oedipus to tell him: “We haven’t come to beg at your hearth because we think you’re the god’s equal. We’ve come because you are the best man at handling trouble or confronting gods”(Oedipus The King, 38-41). Oedipus can be a very nice man when it comes to helping his own people.
It is often said that you get to realize the value of someone after their death. People of the city of Thebes. As the chorus states “ Thebans, that man is the same Oedipus whose great mind solved the famous riddle. He was a most powerful man.” ( Oedipus The King, ( 1733-1735).
I agree that power belongs to those that truly deserve it, and usually power comes with knowledge. Oedipus, who is known to be the most powerful man is also known to be extremely knowledgeable. He was able to successfully solve the Sphinx’s riddle and by doing that he proved himself to the people of Thebes.
The priest of Zeus stated “You came to Thebes, you freed us from the tax we paid with our lives to that rasping Singer. You did it with no help from us. We had nothing to teach you.” (Oedipus The King, 709)
The Priest and the people of Thebes believes in Oedipus. They know he saved them once and can do again because he Is equal to God. They believe that Oedipus can save them from the plague and only he can do it since he posses great power. Thebans have strong faith in their King and show him admiration instead of fear like they would if he was a dictator. Ruling with love is much more different than ruling through fear.
Oedipus The King is a remarkable leader in my opinion because he is empathetic towards his people. He does not watch his people suffer but instead grieves for them and is sickened by their suffering. Oedipus can’t sleep and his mind is confused because he thinks of every way possible to conquer the plague. A great leader puts his people and his city before himself.
I also agreed with the idea that the King, Oedipus is very humane and intelligent. As being a king of Thebe, he ties everything that he can do for his people. He address his status as “…. Yet, sick as you are, not one of you suffers a sickness like mine….” (Oedipus the King, 70-71) He shares the pain with his city feels. This kind of enormous love for his citizens leads him to find out his fate and the truth that he would kill his father and become a love of his mother although everybody tries to keep him away from his fate because he believed that he was the plague like the priest foresees ” of the city and try to solve the root of all of the problem with his fate