The Comparative Essay Sample: Oedipus Tyrannus, Antigone and Oedipus at Tyrannus

One of the things Greek culture is famous for is their respect and understanding of the gods and the role they played in human life. According to them, the gods would speak through prophets known as oracles or seers to provide the people with visions of their future. These oracles were famous in their accompanying city-states and people would sometimes travel great distances to hear their omens. In Sophocles’ plays Oedipus Tyrannus, Antigone, and Oedipus at Tyrannus, he shows how sometimes people try to run from their future given by the gods, but no matter what they do to avoid it, destiny still arrives. Whether or not the gods are totally responsible for peoples’ actions is not the point here. I want to look at the differences between how certain people react to the seer’s news and what they choose to do about it. 

The story of Oedipus begins before he is born. His mother and father are approached by an oracle who said that their son would kill his father and sleep with his mother. After she bore her son, the mother gave him to a servant to kill, hoping to stop the prophecy from coming true. Through several lucky events, the boy survived and grew up estranged from his true parents. This is where the play begins, with Oedipus married and ruling in Athens with his family. The city has recently been under some sort of plague, with people, animals, and crops all dying. Oedipus, the tyrant, seeks counsel from a seer to figure out what the problem is that is causing all this death. When he is told that the problem is him, Oedipus becomes very angry and speaks harshly to the oracle and his friends. He does not believe that the seer has spoken the truth, and so goes on his own journey to try and find the real reason behind everything. While seeking out these answers, he stumbles upon his own problem and, through a series of events, discovers that although he tried to run from his terrible fate, he could not. In the end, Oedipus did indeed commit the acts that were foretold and was left to deal with the consequences. 

What is interesting about this story is that each character dealt differently with what they believed about the prophecy and how they responded to it. Oedipus’ mother, who’s name was Jocasta, was willing to kill her own baby to prevent this terrible thing from happening. She clearly believed with all her heart that the oracle spoke the truth, but interestingly enough still tried to stop it from happening. At one point she even says that “Chance governs human life, / And we can never know what is to come” (Oedipus Tyrannus 102). She gave her son to her servant to go throw off a cliff somewhere, but the servant took pity on the child and instead gave it to a shepherd to care for. This leads to Oedipus growing up and trying to stay as far away from his parents as he can, but not knowing that those who raised him were not his real parents. When Oedipus is slowly putting everything together later on is when she must have begun to realize everything too and instead of suffering the consequences, she hangs herself.

Oedipus’ father is not talked about much in the story, but the small role he does play is crucial. Part of the prophecy says that Oedipus will kill his father, but Oedipus did not know that he was adopted and therefore did not know who his real father was. One day he was walking on a road when a carriage with its entourage forced him off the road so they could pass. Oedipus was quick to anger and ended up killing everyone in the party, including the ruler of Thebes who was his actual father. When Oedipus learns of this later on, he is interestingly enough not apologetic for killing those men. He swears innocence to him not knowing it was his father at the time, and that his actions were somehow justified because of how he was treated. Even when Oedipus is old and his character has somewhat grown he still swears that he was only doing what fate had prescribed him and was therefore not at fault. 

Oedipus’ whole reaction to his life is very interesting to say the least. He appears, in this play, to whole-heartedly believe that what the oracles say from the gods is true. He blames fate and the gods for what happens in his life. However, his character does not stay consistent throughout this entire story, for in the beginning he seeks out a seer to direct him. The city is suffering from some sort of pollution and Oedipus needs to know how to fix it, so he sends for Tierisius the seer. Tierisius says that the source of the city’s suffering is ultimately caused by Oedipus because he killed the previous tyrant. When Oedipus hears this he becomes absolutely enraged and starts yelling at the seer trying to discredit him. In fact, he gets angry at anyone who disagrees with him and even threatens a friend of his. Compared with his reaction to the oracle at his birth, Oedipus is inconsistent to say the least. He ran away from Corinth and lived far away just to prevent the horrible prophecy from coming true, yet when there is another prophecy concerning him and this time accusing him, he absolutely refuses to believe it. 

Another one of Sophocles plays, Antigone, shows yet another example of a person’s reaction to the prophecy of a seer. Oedipus has been cast out of the city and his friend Creon is acting as tyrant now. The same seer as before, Tiresias, is here again and Creon is at first open to his advice. He himself even says “I never have rejected your advice” (Antigone 45). Tiresias speaks now and tells Creon that the consequences of his actions will lead to his son’s death. At this point, Creon does not act like he believes the soothsayer but instead, like Oedipus, tries to discredit his word and speak falsely of him. Tiresias leaves after this, unable to change Creon’s mind. However, Creon does seek advice from the people, and he is wisely advised to heed what the seer has shared, as his prophecies have always come true. In the end, Creon does try to stop what was already set in motion, but it is too late. His son has already died and there is nothing more to be done. At the end of the play, the chorus says it rightly: “Wisdom is supreme for a blessed life, / And reverence for the gods / Must never cease” (Antigone 60). The gods’ purposes are spoken through the seers, and both Creon and Oedipus would have been better off if they had immediately believed and obeyed their words.

At the end of Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus has finally learned the full truth of how he fulfilled the horrible prophecy despite him trying to avoid it. He has dramatically mutilated himself and his wife/mother has hung herself in shame. He is now begging Creon to cast him out of the city, but before that he says goodbye to his daughters, “Pray that you always lead measured lives, / Better lives than lived by your own father” (Oedipus Tyrannus 123). What is interesting is that in some respects Oedipus takes responsibility for his actions. He is admitting that he did not live the most integrity-filled life that he could and that the oracle’s omen is not entirely to blame. In other passages though, he seems filled with remorse and even some anger because the gods cursed his life with this terrible fate. In Oedipus at Colonus, which is the epilogue to Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus is talking to people from Athen and describes his previous actions as “All of them against my will. / The gods know I had no choice” (Oedipus at Colonus 152). So it is a little unclear as to who Oedipus believed was to blame: himself or the gods. Regardless, what is clear is that the gods don;t mess around when they speak through the seers. Their prophecies are true and will come to pass no matter what a person does. Oedipus and his family and friends tried to outrun their foretold fates but ultimately failed. Their story was told many times though, so that others could learn from their mistakes.