Oedipus the King by Sophocles - Essay Example

Oedipus the King by Sophocles The passage selected for analysis is the choral song in Oedipus the King (865ff).the uniqueness and importance of this song is that it reflects the main framework of the play: the role and importance of eternal laws in life of citizens. In this passage, the poet gives readers at least one circumstantial, though not precise, answer concerning the nature of eternal laws. Thesis Here'the laws set up on high' are called the laws of 'reverent purity in every word and deed', words which fix the place of the laws in the sphere of religion and ritual. ' The small passage can be seen as a moral core of the play which reflects the nature of eternal laws and their importance. The passage tells readers that eternal laws were born in Heaven, Olympus alone is their father; they were not brought forth by the mortal nature of man, nor shall forgetfulness ever put them to sleep. A god is great in them, and he does not grow old.' The prayer of the chorus is for a life lived in accordance with these laws. Described as they are with beautiful and passionate emphasis, they are laws of divine origin, Olympian laws, comprehensive and universal. The stanzas following depict the sinner against these laws, the man full of hybris which 'begets the tyrant'. The chorus prays that the Polis may keep its old traditions. The god must remain the State's prostates, its guardian and leader. For if this is not so, if impiety takes hold of the city, then, the chorus sings, 'what need I dance? (896). Then its service in honour of the gods has become senseless. In obvious retort to Iocaste's sceptical utterances on the value of Apollo's oracles, the chorus appeals to Zeus to show his power and the truth of the oracles: 'No longer Apollo is honoured, worship is dead' (ἒρρει τà θει+α). This passage reflects the features of a code of belief and behavior which is opposed to all only man-made beliefs and rules. The song does not repeat the striking mention of the unwritten laws, but their spirit could hardly be made more manifest. Not only does the poet stress, once more and with words of the most emphatic conviction, that the world in general as well as the Polis are ruled by eternal and divine laws, and that the political ruler who does not submit to them will become unjust and a tyrant. The eternal laws are the rules of a world, of a kosmos, of divine ordering and man's pious devotion, not of human morality and political common sense. When the Sophists discovered 'natural law', they denied the traditional (and Sophocles') divine order. For Sophocles there was only Oneness, unity: nature was divine, physis was nomos. In opposing the unwritten laws to Creon's decree Sophocles made what could perhaps be called a logical mistake. Not the slightest hint is given, and it is in itself entirely unlikely, that Creon's law was written law. It was a κἡρυγμα, a pronunciamento or proclamation. Taken quite literally, there was no conflict between written and unwritten laws. Sophocles uses the expression ἄγραπτα νόμιμα in a way suggesting that it was not a newly invented phrase. It is certain that in fifth-century Greece most laws were regarded as valid just because they were written. Creon's decree is fundamentally of the same kind, and Sophocles' mistake (if readers may call it so) is easily explained. He did not invent either the phrase or the matter, but he used the concept in his own way and to his own purposes; in fact, it was probably he who gave it its most forceful expression. Heraclitus was perhaps the first to speak of one divine law from which all human laws derive. He coined a striking phrase for the idea which, however vaguely, was generally held, that all law was of divine origin. During the sixth and the fifth centuries, with the growing separation of legislation and jurisdiction from religion -- that is to say, above all, with the growth of democracy and democratic law-making -- the Greeks came to realize the difference between divine and human law, and became aware of some of its implications. Nomos, 'Law' as a general rule, as a moral obligation and command, as a power above human standards, was seen as something distinct from the nomoi, the particular laws of a State. Readers can trace various forms of the idea of a universal law or of a plural of universal laws, though there was no generally accepted, or at least predominant, doctrine. He says so himself: it is human greatness in particular that is in danger of breaking or neglecting the laws of the divine order. Sophocles' conception of the unwritten laws could only be shared by those who also shared his fundamental convictions. In sum, the passage unveils the principles and moral framework of society. The phrase Unwritten Laws, though it too may have various meanings, reflects a popular version of the same idea. Readers must be careful not to assume that Plato's statement about the popular use of the phrase. To Sophocles the unwritten laws are sacred and eternal laws through which the divine powers rule the world. They are not confined to any particular community, and are distinct from all merely human law. An integral and, in fact, dominating part of the poet's thought and belief, they were bound to meet with consent as well as opposition. The choral song of Oedipus the King, with its emphatic rebuke to those who did not believe in the divine origin of the laws and their holy nature, cannot be understood unless Sophocles wrote it while fully aware of such opposing views. It is, unless readers are in error, the poet's reply to an opponent, or at least to contrary convictions. It cannot have been a negligible opposition to which Sophocles replied in such a striking fashion. Works Cited Sophocles, Oedipus the King. 2008. Appendix CHORUS (Str. 1) Many wonders there be, but naught more wondrous than man; Over the surging sea, with a whitening south wind wan, Through the foam of the firth, man makes his perilous way; And the eldest of deities Earth that knows not toil nor decay Ever he furrows and scores, as his team, year in year out, With breed of the yoked horse, the ploughshare turneth about. (Ant. 1) The light-witted birds of the air, the beasts of the weald and the wood He traps with his woven snare, and the brood of the briny flood. Master of cunning he: the savage bull, and the hart Who roams the mountain free, are tamed by his infinite art; And the shaggy rough-maned steed is broken to bear the bit. (Str. 2) Speech and the wind-swift speed of counsel and civic wit, He hath learnt for himself all these; and the arrowy rain to fly And the nipping airs that freeze, 'neath the open winter sky. He hath provision for all: fell plague he hath learnt to endure; Safe whate'er may befall: yet for death he hath found no cure. (Ant. 2) Passing the wildest flight thought are the cunning and skill, That guide man now to the light, but now to counsels of ill. If he honors the laws of the land, and reveres the Gods of the State Proudly his city shall stand; but a cityless outcast I rate Whoso bold in his pride from the path of right doth depart; Ne'er may I sit by his side, or share the thoughts of his heart. What strange vision meets my eyes, Fills me with a wild surprise? Sure I know her, sure 'tis she, The maid Antigone. Hapless child of hapless sire, Didst thou recklessly conspire, Madly brave the King's decree? Therefore are they haling thee? [Enter GUARD bringing ANTIGONE] Read More