The Character of Oedipus (1959)

[Music] in our first lesson we learned something about the age in which Sophocles wrote his plays it was an age of questions of excited discussion for a new form of government democracy had given men freedom freedom to discussed not only politics but everything which affected their way of life and their beliefs this discussion naturally was reflected in the plays written by the Athenian dramatists and in fact the play we are going to study edus the King by Sophocles deals with the most important issues of the dramatists own day and especially with the conflict between the old religion and the new ideas but it is not just a discussion of ideas it is first and foremost a play and a very exciting one it is a play of a type you have often seen in the movies or on television it is a detective story The search for a killer the killer of lios the king who ruled thieves before edus the murder of lios you might call it or since lios was killed at a place where three main roads meet the murder at the crossroads who are the characters in our detective story most important of course is the detective himself in this case edus King of Thieves it is up to edus to find the killer of course we know who the Killer is it is edus but edus himself does not know it does not even occur to him that the old man he killed in the fight at the crossroads so many years ago was lios so this detective story is in some ways the most strange and terrifying ever written for the detective is himself the criminal he pushes the investigation on to The Bitter End and finds the truth the truth is that he is not only the killer of lios but also the son of lios and of jasta that is to say he killed his own father and married his own mother as the the god Apollo predicted at First Sight the story of edus does not look like very promising material for drama it is the story of a man who was told by a God that he would kill his father and marry his mother and this is what he did everything is fixed in advance the cards are stacked against him apparently all edius can do is struggle in the Trap in which he has caught he can suffer but not act and yet the play does present us with exciting action for the play does not show us edus fulfilling the prophecies but rather edus discovering that they have been fulfilled and here he is not a passive figure who does what has been laid out for him he has a choice he could stop the search for the truth at any moment in fact several times in the play he has urged to do just that but he will not listen to these appeals he pushes on to the end edus will know the truth and in the end he does the choice to start the inquiry and to continue it was his and his alone it is edus who drives the action of the play forward and to understand the play we must understand edus his motives and his reactions to events so in this lesson we are going to see edus in some of the decisive moments of the action when the play begins edus is waiting for cron his brother-in-law to return from Deli edus sent him there to consult the Oracle of Apollo about a plague which is Raging in thieves and threatening to wipe out the population we shall see Creon make his report this is a tense moment the fate of the whole city depends on Cron's news and on the steps edus will take watch especially the questions he asks Creon they go right to the heart of the matter each time making the situation clear leaving nothing unexplored what news do you bring us from Apollo if you want to hear my report in the presence of these people I am ready to begin or shall we go inside speak out before all of us my people's Sorrows mean more to me than any fear I may have for my own life very well here is what I was told by the god Apollo he ordered us in clear terms to drive out the thing that defiles this land which we he says have fed and cherished what is the nature of our Misfortune how are we to rid ourselves of it by what rights B punishment or by repaying Blood with blood we must atone for a murder that brings this plague storm on the city who's murder who is the man whose death Apollo lays to our charge the ruler of this land my Lord was called lius that was before you took the Helm of State I know at least I have heard it I never saw the man it is to his death that Apollo's command clearly refers we must punish the murderers whoever they may be but where on Earth are they the track of this ancient guilt is hard to detect how should we find it now here in thieves Apollo said what is searched for can be caught what is neglected escapes where did lias meet his death in his own country or on some foreign soil he left thieves to consult the Oracle so he announced but he never returned and no messenger came back no fellow traveler who saw or what happened no they were all killed except for one man who ran away in Terror but he could give no clear account of what he saw except for one thing and what was that one thing might be the clue to the knowledge of many more if we could get even a flimsy basis for Hope lias was killed he said not by one man but by a strong and numerous band of robbers How could a robber reach such a pitch of Daring to kill a king unless there had been words and money passed between him and someone here in thieves he thought of that too but the death of lus left us helpless and leaderless in our trouble trouble what trouble could be big enough to prevent a full investigation your king had just been killed the Sphinx with her riddling songs forced us to to give up the mystery and think about more urgent matters but I will begin aresh I will bring it all to light you have done well cron and Apollo has twoo to show this solicitude for the murdered man now you will have me working with you as is only right I shall be the champion of Thieves and Apollo's Champion too I shall rid us of this pollution [Music] not for the sake of a distant relative but for my own sake for whoever killed lios might decide to raise his hand against me so edus undertakes to find the killer he goes on to pronounce a solemn and terrify in curse on the man who killed lios then he sends for tyresius the prophet of Apollo tyresius is old and blind but he knows both the past and the future he knows who killed lios but when edus questions him he refuses to speak and so edus a man of Swift action and Authority finds himself defied by a key witness in God's name if you know something do not turn your back on us we beseech you all of us on our knees you are ignorant I will never reveal my Dreadful Secrets or are they yours what do you say you know something and will not speak you would betray us and the state I will not cause pain to myself or to you why do you question me it is useless you will learn nothing from me you SC you would enrage a lifeless Stone will nothing move you speak out and make an end of it you blame my temper but you are not aware of the one you live with who could control his anger listening to talk like this these insults to thieves I will say no more do what you like rage at me in the wildest anger you can muster I will I understand it all listen to me I think that you have helped to plan the murder of lios and short of actually raising your hand against him you did it if you weren't blind I'd say you alone struck him down is that what you say I charge you to carry out the articles of the Proclamation you made from now on do not presume to speak to me or to any of these people you are the murderer you are the Unholy defilement of this land enough I will not listen to this sort of talk from you damn you my curse on you get out of here quickly away from this house back to where you came from I am going but first I will say what I came here to say I have no fear of you you cannot destroy me listen to me now this man you're looking for the murderer of lios is here go think this out if you find that I am wrong then tell me that I have no skill in Prophecy this scene shows us the anger of edus the Man of Action who finds himself thwarted from his point of view his anger is Justified he is trying to save the city he can think of only one reason why tesus will not talk he must himself be involved in the murder and so edus accuses him of it tyresius had intended to keep silent but to be accused of the murder of lios is too much for him and so he tells what he knows edus is himself the killer edus at first dismisses the prophet's accusation but he is deep Disturbed all the same in the next scene we shall see him discuss his worries with his wife jasta she dismisses tesus accusation with contempt all prophets she says are liars they do not know any more than ordinary men and she can prove this by an example from her own life but the example she gives edus does not comfort him it has the opposite effect without understanding what she is doing Jocasta gives edus a vital clue to the identity of the real killer of lies in God's name explain to me my Lord what was it that made you so angry cron says that I am the murderer of lios on what evidence his own knowledge or on hearsay oh he keeps his own lips clear of responsibility he sent a swindling Prophet to speak for him a prophet in that case rid your mind of fear and listen to me I can teach you something there is no human being born that is endowed with prophetic power I can prove it to you and in a few words a prophecy came to lios once I won't say from Apollo himself but from his priests it said that lios was fated to die at the hand of his own son a son to be born to him and me well lios so The Story Goes was killed by Foreign robbers at a place where three highways meet as for the son three days after his birth lios fastened his ankles together and had him Cast Away upon the pathless mountains so in this case Apollo did not make the son kill his father or lios die at his own son's hands as he had feared yet these were the definite statements of the prophetic voices don't pay any attention to prophecies if God needs or seeks anything he will easily make it clear to us himself Jaster something I heard you say has Disturbed my soul and unhinged my mind what do you mean what was it that alarmed you so I thought I heard you say that lias was killed at the place where three highways meet yes that's what the story was and still is where is the place where this thing happened the country is called Focus two roads a road from Deli and a road from doia come together and make one when did it happen how long ago we heard the news here in thieves just before you appeared and became king oh God what have you planned to do to me so edus gets his first hint of the Dreadful truth but he drives on as the scene proceeds he questions Jaster further and extracts every vital piece of information the place the time the description of the victim and he discovers that all these details coincide exactly with those of his own fight with an old man at a crossroad he is beginning to think that he may himself be the murderer of lios the details all Co inside except one Jaster mentioned that lios was killed by several robbers and edus knows that when he killed the old men he was alone there is a way of finding out the truth Jaster has heard about the fight from an eyewitness this witness is now a Shepherd working for the Royal House edus orders him to be brought in but before this key witness arrives a messenger comes from Corinth with good news popus King of Corinth the man edus thinks of as his father is dead a great weight is lifted from edus mind for you remember the god Apollo had told him that he would kill his father and marry his mother it looks as if the first half of this prophecy has failed but the messenger from Corinth goes on to tell him something more edus is not the son of polybus and mipe at all the Corinthian knows this because he is the man who gave the child edus to polybus and maripe this is a disturbing Revelation it leaves edus with two riddles to solve instead of one the riddle of the death of lios and the riddle of his own origin his identity edus does not realize yet that the answer to the one is also the answer to the other edus proceeds to question the messenger the Corinthian gave the child to popus but he does not know where it came from it was given to him by a shepherd on the mountain in the scene which we are going to see now jasta learns the truth she realizes that the child they are talking about must be her own son who she thought had died on the mountain she realizes that edus is her son you did not find me yourself no no another Shepherd gave you to me who was he do you know could you describe him I think he belonged to the house holder of lios you mean the man who was once king of this country yes he he was one of the Shepherds Ros is he still alive can I talk to him oh you you people who live here would know that better than I is there any one of you people here who knows this Shepherd he mentioned has anyone seen him in the fields or he in thieves I think it is the same man from the fields you wanted to see before but the queen here Joe Caster could tell you that Joe Caster do you remember the man we sent for just now is that the man he was talking about why ask who means don't pay any attention to it don't even think about what he said it makes no sense what with a clue like this give up the search fail to solve the mystery of my birth never in God's name if you place any value on your life don't pursue the search you have nothing to be afraid of even if my mother turns out to be a slave and I a slave for three generations back your Royal birth will not be called in question take my advice I beg you don't go on with it nothing will move me I will find out the whole truth it is good advice I am giving you I am thinking of you this good advice of yours is trying my patience ill fated man may you never find out who you are in spite of jocasta's agonized warning edus refuses to give up he will know and he is still hopeful whatever the truth may turn out to be even if edus the king should turn out to be the son of a slave he will be able to face it and live with it he will know the truth about himself no matter what the consequences and now we shall see him find it the key witness the shepherd is brought on this is the man who gave the child to the Corinthian on the mountain many years years ago and he is also the eyewitness to the death of lias he knows the whole truth but he refuses to reveal it if you won't speak willingly we'll see if pain can make you speak in God's name don't don't torture me I am an old man oh God what more do you want to know did you give him the child he asked about yes I did and I wish I had had died that day you will die now if you don't give an honest answer and if I speak I shall enure worse things what more delay no no I said it before yes I gave him the child where did you get it was it yours or the child of someone else it wasn't mine someone gave it to me which of these thebans here from whose house did it come in God's name Master don't ask any more questions you are a dead man if I have to ask you again it was a child born in the house of lias was it a slave or a member of the royal family oh God now comes the Dreadful truth and I must speak and I must hear it and hear it I will it was the son of lios so I was told but the lady inside there your wife she is the one to tell you did she give it to you yes my Lord she did for what purpose to destroy it her own child she was afraid of dreadful prophecies but were they the child would kill his parents that was the story then why did you give it to the man from Corinth in pity master I thought he would take it away to a foreign country to the place he came from if you are the man he says you are you are born the most unfortunate of men oh God it has all Come True Light let this be the last time I look on you I stand revealed born in shame married in shame an unnatural murderer edus has made the most terrible Discovery a man ever made and this discovery as we have seen is his own work step by step he forced his own way to this Dreadful knowledge the knowledge he gains is his ruin he is revealed as a criminal who has broken the most sacred laws of human conduct it is hard to imagine anything worse that could happen to a human being why does it happen if this is not just a meaningless Horror Story there must be a reason what does the play mean the answer most people give to that question is a very old answer in fact it was first proposed by a Greek philosopher Aristotle who wrote the first book ever written about the drama Aristotle was trying to explain how tragedy works on our minds and feelings and why in spite of the fact that it has an unhappy ending it does not fill us with despair he based his discussion on the character of the tragic hero the hero of tragedy he said edus in this case is a man who has many good qualities as edus clearly does but who has also one particular fault or flaw which brings him to destruction in spite of all the good that there is in him this one fault or flaw is responsible for his fall and to this extent he deserves what happens to him we can accept the hero's disaster without being shocked or disgusted because what happens to him is the result of something wrong in his character how does this explanation work in the case of edus does his character contain a fault which brings him to disaster and which helps us to feel that he deserves to suffer as he finally does what have we learned about edus from the scenes we have been shown we have seen that he is an active vigorous and decisive man he is a man of great Courage the courage it took to insist on the truth he is an intelligent man who guessed the riddle of the Sphinx he is a man full of confidence and hope in the future and all these qualities are at the service of his people he is a responsible and energetic ruler it is true that he has a fierce anger which blazes furiously when he is thwarted and when he thinks that Creon is plotting against him but he can overcome that anger as he does when he lets Creon go these are the qualities of edus which are important in bringing about the discovery of the truth it seems to me that it is difficult to find among them a fault which will really reconcile us with what has happened this is a problem you must try to solve for yourself but it seems to me that in the case of edus Aristotle's explanation is not enough the character of edus is an admirable one he is is a great ruler vigorous intelligent and courageous nothing in his character makes us feel that he deserves the Monstrous things that happened to him then why do they happen what does the play mean the answer which I am going to propose in the next lesson lies in something outside the character of edus it lies in the area of the play which we have so far not explored the religious area you must have noticed how important Prophecies of the future are in this play at every turn of the action a prophet or a prophecy comes under discussion this play is concerned with something more than a man and his character the gods are involved as well edus you remember knew the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx it was man but the answer to the riddle of the murder of lias as he finds out involv Oles the gods as well [Music]