Oedipus Rex as a Religious Drama

Titans who devoured Dionysus. 3 Only his heart remained, which Zeus ate and Dionysus was born a second time. 4 Zeus destroyed the Titans with lightening, and from their remains sprang human life, consequently homo are both divine and evil. 5 Sophocles embodied this aspect of God given human nature, mutual opposites, In the character of Oedipus. His actions are driven by the mother. 6 He is not consciously guilty of the crimes of incest, but the reality and irony of the play states that he is endorsing them. He takes the role of husband and son, brother and father he is inversely guilty and innocent, despite the Juxtaposed nature of these conditions, a reflection of the conditions from which humanity sprang. There is a definite t mavin of reverence in the dark unresolved matter, and a subsequent lesson that Gods that their prophecies demand respect. Nevertheless, the setting of the festival and tribute to the Gods make it a fundamentally religious lay.Central to religious drama is the concept that man essential conform to divine order- nevertheless at the cost of himself. 17 In Oedipus Rexes, this divine order Is predetermined by the prophecies of the Oracle which is the driving force for the entire plot. Oedipus parents receive the prophecy at his birth later, when called a bastard, Oedipus goes to the Oracle and receives the same Information and when a plague attacks Thebes, Croon Is sent to consult It again, which reveals Its fulfillment. 8 The oracles presence Is highly active, and In this sense, fulfils the role of an antagonist.Its also enforces Aristotle notion that a character is only a result of plot, as the characters action are solely dictated by the culture provided by the Oracle. 9 The role is further enforced by the fact that it is not a mere invention it was a very real part of classical culture, where spirituality and politics are intricately linked. Despite the characters best efforts (Accost and Alias leaving their son for dead, and Oed ipus fleeing who he believed to be his parents. ) Its fulfillment was seemingly inevitable, perhaps even caused by their go to bedledge of the prophecy. 10 It s in the avoidance of circumstance in which the prophecy could be fulfill, that is proximity to the dangerous other, that Oedipus and Alias were able to meet. 11 As afore mentioned the forecasting is the force behind the plot, but it is the characters resistance that cause the conflict and therefore the drama. Not to taint a religious discussion with a Freudian psychoanalytical perspective, but, as this conflict shows, opuses Is perhaps ten least Kelly person to nave an opuses complex en allocates his life to its avoidance. 12 When he discovers his predicament, his costs are encashment, the loss of his children and his eyes, Now I will do what must be done to the source of This is a highly symbolic action as in Greek the words for know and see are correspondent. 14 He is literally removing the knowledge of his sins, knowled ge he sought with such dynamism from the oracle, an image drenched with irony. The eventual acceptance that Apollo will have been fulfilled is, perhaps, the religious moral of the play the Gods are omniscient, therefore their laws will always be up held.Aristotle states, within its six elements (plot, character, diction, spectacle, thought ND song)1 5, that Tragedy is an fictive Of events inspiring aid or pity16 and that the Tragic hero is above the common man, but not definitively good, he must have a flaw. 17 In relevancy to Oedipus Rexes, and the sense in which it is a religious play, these elements highlight the enforced influence the presence of the Gods have on the actions of the characters, and the concept of free will. The event inspiring fear and pity is most likely the act of incest.Although a taboo subject regardless of culture and period, its interpretation changes across time. A modern view is one that inherently links incest to child abuse, as we are greatly influenc ed by feminist theory. 18 Such theory states that incest is an abuse of the power dynamics in the family unit, commonly from father to daughter. 19 However the incest portrayed in the play is unwittingly performed, by consenting adults, but, nevertheless, provokes a disgusted reaction. The cross-contamination of blood is universally considered tainted and unnatural. 20 The circumstances surrounding Oedipus and Costars pith could be the fear provoking element. The magnitude of the tragic universe created requires he reader to question whether or not Oedipus would really have killed a outlander over right of way, if the riddle of the Sphinx was honestly that difficult- which allowed his passage to Thebes, or if the drunken mans accusation of bastard were mere coincidence. The enormity of the irony suggests some foul play on the part of the Gods.