Jonathan’s Blog Post

Oedipus was, no doubt, born to live a very unfortunate life. However, much of his grief comes after he is crowned as the king of Thebes. Once this occurs, plague takes over the city, and eventually Oedipus ends up inadvertently cursing himself. So one might say that it is his newfound power that ultimately does him in. On page 28, Creon makes a speech in which he explains to Oedipus that he has absolutely no desire to acquire the title of a king, for he believes he has nothing to gain from it.

Between Creon’s speech and all the hardships that Oedipus faced as king, I began to wonder if there was a certain message that Sophocles wanted to send to his audience. Perhaps Sophocles intended to show the citizens of Greece that they should be content with their lives as is and not worry about the affairs of royalty. As we previously discussed in class, these plays brought about emotional and cathartic experiences for the audience members. I can imagine that many Greeks walked out of the theatre with a different mindset about those in power, maybe a bit more sympathetic.

How would you have reacted if you were able to watch Oedipus the King as a Greek citizen?