Sophocles' Talent in Oedipus the King - Essay Example

The Athenian culture cautioned its artists against choosing Athens as the setting for their literal works. Scholars attribute this to Athenians' preference for distancing themselves from misfortunes occurring in their city. For example, the plague consuming Thebes in the play mirrored a similar plague, which attacked Athens in the recent past before Sophocles wrote the play. Despite opting for a different setting, strong intonations about Athenian culture emerge across the play. It was Athenian culture for citizens to dethrone their king to rid the city of misfortune. This explains why Oedipus took it upon himself to find the culprit responsible for killing Laius. Moreover, Sophocles did not base his play on fictional imagination but on preexisting mythology about Oedipus' tragic life. As a result, the audience was aware of how the play will end from the very beginning.

Many themes emerge through the play with the most predominant being fate versus free will. Tribulations faced by the main character, Oedipus, Sophocles display the tension between free will and fate. His sole intention was to validate the power of prophecies and deities or the gods in predetermining the course of an individual's life. In the 5th century B.C., many began to question the role of fate in a human's life. They thought that outcomes resulted from free will, which was the ability to decide between choices. Power is also a theme that emerges within the play. Sophocles' view of power was that it corrupts individuals. Oedipus' reaction to the priest, Tiresias' prophecy mirrored his arrogance and unperceptive nature. His resolve to hide from the truth after suspecting he was the murderer and his decision to hold on to the throne validated power's ability to distort truths.

Sophocles' use of symbolism serves to embellish the play by using characters and objects to represent abstract ideas. Oedipus' scarred foot is symbolic in that the scar represents fate's mark on his life, and his inability to escape his destiny. Antigone's entombment by Creon symbolizes that her loyalties lay with her dead brother and father. Moreover, it also symbolizes Creon's disrespect towards conventions that bind Thebes. He holds little respect for the gods.

In conclusion, Oedipus the King remains a relevant literal piece because of the playwright’s literal talent. His ability to put the play in context by making indirect references to Athenian society enables different audiences to gain perspective on the Athenian civilization.