CRITICAL SURVEY

OF .~)-'
DRAMA (ro \QJ

Foreign Language Series

Authors
Sch-Z

Edited by
FRANK N. MAGILL

SALEM PRESS
1722
SOPHOCLES
Born: Colonus, Greece; c. 496 B.C.
Died: Athens, Greece; 406 B.C.
Principal drama
Aias, early 440's B.C. (Ajax); Antigone. 441 B.C. (Amlgone); Trachinai.
435-429 B.C. (The Wsmlell of Trachisy: Oidipous Tyrannos, c. 429 B.C. (Oe-
dipus Tyrannusv: Elektra 418-410 B.C. (Electra); Philoktetes, 409 B.C.
(Philoctetes); Oidipous epl Kolonoi, 401 B.C. (Oedipus at Colonusi.
Other literary forms
In addition to his plays. Sophocles also wrote paeans and elegies. Frag-
ments exist of a paean to the god Asclepius, of an ode to the histori;n
Herodotus, and of an elegy to the philosopher Archelaus. AIl apparently
complete epigram addressed to the poet Euripides also survives. According
to ancient tradition, Sophocles wrote a literary treatise in prose. On the
Chorus. Unfortunately, thIS work. which may have discussed the tragedian's
mcrease In the size of the chorus, IS lost.
AChievements
S,ophocles' dramatic career, which intersects both Aeschylus' and Euripi-
des periods of production, was noted in antiquity for several important
theatrical mnovations, and his plays have experienced a remarkably con-
stant popularity beginning in his own lifetime and continuing Into the
present. Perhaps no other plav~vright has had as great an mfluence upon ':s,'i- "]
both anClent and modern concepts of the dramatic art --- of(
Like Aeschylus. Sophocles acted In his own plays. His performances as;
ball-piaymg Nausicaa and as a lyre-playing Thamyras in lost plays were
well-known In the fifth century. Sophocles IS said by ancient sources. how-
ever. to have been the first playwright to have abandoned the practice of
acting III his 0\\10 works. It is now impossible to determine whether this
change. which became the norm among later Greek tragedians. was a true
Sophoclean innovation, the result of. as the sources state. Sophocles' own
weakening VOIce. or was rather the result of a general trend toward in-
creasmg specialization in later fifth century tragedies.
Sophocles is also said to have increased the size of the tragic chorus from
twelve to fifteen members and to have added a third actor. If Aeschylus'
Oresteia. produced in 458 B.C., can be used as chronological evidence. the
former innovation had not yet become the rule by 458. but the latter
change had most certainly been introduced bv that date All the survivinz
- ' 0
plays of Sophocles make use of three actors, but the size of the chorus in a
given play IS rarely easy to document. The Introduction of the third actor
was the final evolutIonary stage in the development of Greek tragedy.
Sophocles 1723
which probably had its origins m a choral song to which one, two. and,
finally, three actors were added. With the use of three actors. Sophocles
was able to concentrate dramatic attentIon upon the actors and upon the
).poken dialogues and agons or "debates" for which his plays are noted.
~~ophocles' mastery of dialOgue IS es ec '\ t In his ralaQUes. \\hleh
I \o~e.:a most a ways egm no WIth the static, expository monologues of Euripi-
:,6\"" des, but with dramatIC, plot-advancmg dIalogues, such as the bItter e)~-
! change between AntIgone and Ismene at the begInnmg of Antwone./
In general, Sophocles accomplishes tills development of the actor'S role
in tragedy without neglecting the chora! portions of the pIa\'. Sophocles'
interest in the chorus is suggested not only by the traditIon that he wrote a
prose treatise on the chorus and increased Its size, but also by the extant
plays themselves. While the choruses of Sophocles' tragedies do not have
the central Importance of such Aeschylean choruses as those in Hiketides
(463 B.c.7: The Suppliants) and Eumenides (a part of the Oresteia. along
with Agamernnon, Libation Bearers. and Prometheus Bound), nevertheless,
several Sophoclean odes, such as the "Ode to man" in Antigone and the
Colonus ode in Oedipus at Colonus, are among the most beautiful in
Greek tragedy. Sophocles also shows himself able to manipulate dramatic
mood through the tone of his odes, as m Ajax, when he places a joyful
song just before disaster. Only In Philoctetes , which has only one true cho-
ral ode, does a work of Sophocles exhibit the diminshed choral role com-
mon in Greek tragedy of the last decades of the fifth century B.C.
\'(,'0 Two other innovations attributed in antiquity to Sophocles suggest that
the playwright was interested in the visual as well as tne verbal effects of
! drama. The ancient biography on the life of Sophocles states that he
designed boots and staffs for both actors and the chams, and. In The Poet-
ICS (334-323 B.C.) Aristotle says that Sophocles invented scene-panning. In
general, however, the extant plays show little of the spectacular stagecraft
found m both Aeschylus and Euripides. The closest Sophocles comes to
Aeschylus' use of ghosts is the supernatural disappearance of Oedipus in
Oedipus at Colonus, and he employs the favonte Eunpidean technique of
the deus ex machina only once, in Philoctetes,
Modern scholars often state that Sophocles was responsible for the aban-
donment of connected tragic trilogies in favor of thematically independent
plays, a conclusion based upon the tenuous assumption that all mid-fifth
century productions of three tragedies and one satyr play were connected
in theme. Another possible mterpretation of the scanty ancient evidence on
trilogies IS that connected trilogies were an Aeschylean experunent which
few. if any, later tragedians repeated. Sophocles' composition Telepneia,
usually considered to be his only connected trilogy, may not have been a
connected group at all. Not even the names of the plays which made up
Telepheia are known, and there is no evidence that the ·eia ending signifies

1724 Cntical Survey of Drama
a connected trilogy m fifth century ternunology, despite the -eia ending in
Oresteia.
While It is unlikely, then. that Sophocles was an innovator in the produc-
tion of unconnected trilogies. several of Ius individual plays do possess
another distinctive structural feature. diptych composition; composed of
two nearly independent parts or with two separate main characters. Ajax,
Antigone, and The Women of Trachis all divide neatly into two parts. with
the departures or deaths of Ajax. Antigone. and Deramra, respectively.
Only Euripides' Alkestis (438 B.C.: Alcestis) approaches the two-part struc-
ture of these Sophoclean plays. the "disunity" of which has been noted by
both ancient and modern critics. Yet dipytch form appears to have been an
intentional feature of these tragedies, perhaps even a Sophoclean experi-
ment made In response to the Aeschylean connected trilogy. TIllS Sopho-
clean form is based not on structural disunity! but rather all structural flexi-
bility and demonstrates a general deemphasis on the need for single central
characters that is notable not only in Sophocles but also in extant Greek
tragedy in general. Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, with its nearly exclusive
attention to the fate of a single character. is rather the exception than the
rule in this respect.
The esteem in WhICh Sophocles' work was held in the fifth century is en-
dent from such contemporary evidence as Anstophanes' Batrachoi (405
B.C.: The Frogs), in WhICh praise of the late Sophocles as "good-natured
while alive and good-natured In Hades," is clearly comic understatement. (
and Phrynichus' Muses, produced in the same year. in which Sophocles IS
deSCrib~ as "a prosperous and clever man who wrote many good traa-
. ~ nr::."se.
edies." Ilus fifth century respect for Sophocles was intensified in the fourth
century, under the influence of Anstotle, whose high praIse of Sophoclean
tragedy In The Poetics has shaped all subsequent critical approaches. not
only to Sophocles but also to tragedy in general) Aristotle, for whom
Sophoclean tragedy, and specifically Oedipus Tyrannus . was an ideal trag-
pnlent
Y
edy, _particular.l adm.ire.d SOPhO.cles ' dramatI.c .develo of characte)
and quoted the playwright as saying that "he [Sophocles] made men as
they ought to be; Euripides as they are."
Along WIth the works of Aeschylus and Euripides. Sophocles' plays were
widely adapted by Roman tragedians in the second and first centunes B.C.,
but Seneca's Oedipus (c. A.D. 45-55) IS the only extant Roman imitation of
Sophocles. Seneca follows closely the plot of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus ,
but with a typically Roman overemphasis upon Teiresias' ntes of prophecy
and with a compressed version of Oedipus' discovery of his true identity
which pales beside its Sophoclean source. Seneca's play also lacks the great
mood of Irony for which Sophocles IS Justly famous.
The role of Sophoclean tragedy in the history of ideas would be mccrn-
plete WIthout mention of Sophocles' influence upon the philosophy of
•
Sophocles 1725
Georg Wilhelm Friednch Hegel in the nineteenth century and upon the
psychological theones of Sigmund Freud in the twentieth century. In hIS
Asthetik (1835: The Philosophy of Fine Art, 1920), Hegel praised Antigone
for _Its ideal tragic form-that IS, Its dramatic reconciliation of conflicting
POSItIons. which conformed well with the Hegelian concept of dialectics. of
thesis-antithesis-synthesis. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), Freud
CIted Oedipus Tyrannus as an expression of a child's love of oue parent and
hatred of the other, the psychic Impulse which Freud came to call the
"Oedipus complex."
Despit~ such influence outside the theater, It is upon Sophocles' tragic
art. and In particular upon his skilled use of character development, dia-
logue. and dramatic irony, that his reputation has Justly rested for more
than t\\'O thousand years.
}BiograPhv!
The main events of Sophocles' life are known from several ancient
sources, including inscriptions and especially an Alexandrian biography
which survives In the manuscript tradition. While it IS difficult at times to
distinguish fact from anecdote in these sources, even the fiction is a useful
gauge of Sophocles' image and reputation in antiquity.
Sophocles) lifetime coincides with the glorious rise of Athenian dcrnoc-
racy and Athens' naval empire and WIth the horrors of the Peloponnesian
. \Var.- Born a generation later than Aeschylus and a generation earlier than
,--1\~S Euripides, Sophocles won dramatic victories over both of these p.aywnghts.
(\ .("\I,t He was born c. 496 B.C, to Sophilus, a wealthy industrialist and slave owner
from the Athenian deme of COlonus. While Sophocles generally avoids per-
t,,·
,--
rJ>0.-'>
sonal references In hIS play's, his love for hIS natrve Colon us IS evident In
his last work, Oedipus at Colonus, and especially 10 the famous ColoTIUS
"~"" ode of that play.
I Sophocles received a good education. According to ancient sources, as a
youth he won competitions in \v~ng and in music. His music teacher,
Lamprus, was known for his epic and conservative compositions, for which
he was ranked in hIS day WIth the great lyric poet Pin dar. Sophocles himself
v IS said to have been chosen to lead the victory song WIth lyre after the
Athenian sea Victory at Salamis in 480 B.C.
The patriotism of Sophocles was well-known in antiquity. In the ancient
biography, he is called philathcnaiotatos , "a very great lover of Athens,"
and. unlike both Aeschylus and Euripides. he is said never to have left hIS
native city for the court of a foreign king. Sophocles was also unlike hIS
fellow dramatists in that he held public office several times: In 443/442. lie
was Hellenotamias, a financial overseer of the Delian League In Athens; m
441/440. he was general along with Pencles in the Samian Revolt. Sopho-
cles may have been general again. around 427, this time ','lith Nicias: and 1Il
 1726 Critical Survey of Drama
413. he was elected proboulos . a member of a special executive committee
formed after the Sicilian disaster. No clear conclusions concernmg the
dramatist's political sentiments can be denved from Sophocles' political
career, especially since fifth century Athenian democracy often survived on
noncareer appointments from among its citizens. There are several hints in
Sophocles' biography, however. of links with the pro-Spartan and aris-
tocratic circle of the Athenian statesman Cimon: In hIS Life of Oman. Plu-
tarch says that Sophocles won his first dramatic victory in 468 B.C .. when.
at the request of the yeararchon, Cimon and his nine fellow generals took
the place of judges chosen by lot for the tragic competition: Sophocles. as
general in 441/440, is said to have visited the poet Ion of Chios, a close
friend of Cimon; Sophocles wrote an elegy, of which fragments survive. to
another member of Cimon's circle. the philosopher Archelaus of Miletus:
finally, Sophocles is also connected wah Polygnotus, the famous painter
and friend of Comon who is said to have made a well-known portrait of
Sophocles holding a lyre. On the other hand. Sophocles may have also
been a friend of Pericles. the great Athenian statesman and Cirnon's politi-
cal riva] , with whom Sophocles was general in 441/440 B.C. SO. it may be
that Sophocles attempted to separate his probable friendship wah Cimon
\". from his CiVIC duty and patnotic sentiments.(At the least. this evidence
C:;:F? shows that Sophocles was not politically detached. but rather. very much
1:Jinvolved in the political and intellectual life of his day)The ancient biog-
. ,,,'> raphy mentions that Sophocles established a thiasos , or religious guild. m
;}~ honor of the Muses. Other members of this intellectual group are unkown,
''( but it may have included Sophocles' good fnend, the Illstori an Herodotus.
whom the dramatist occasionally used as a source and to whom he wrote
an ode,
Sophocles won his first dramatic victory m 468 B.C. by defeatmg Aes-
chylus, probably with a group which included a Triptoiemus, now lost.
Whether this was Sophocles' first dramatic competition is not known. but it
is recorded that the playwright went on to win twenty-three more victories.
to earn secon~ place, many times, <;9? third place never. \Vith fo~r plays i?
each production. this means thaK,nmety-two out of Sophocles' approxr-
mately 124 dramas won for hun first prizes) This great contemporary suc-
cess contrasts strikingly with the career of EUripides. who WOIl first place
only five times. Sophocles did not compete in 467 B.C. but probably won
second place to Aeschylus' Danaid trilogy in 463? B.C.
Unfortunately, no plays from Sophocles' earliest years survive. The earli-
est extant play IS probably Ajax. from the early 440's B.C. In his Moralia,
Plutarch distinguishes three penods of Sophoclean style: a "weighty"
period with Aeschylean similarities: a "harsh and artificial stage"; and a fi-
nal group "most suited to express character and best." No extant plays.
except perhaps Ajax. belong to the first two penods. Since the categories
Sophocles 1727
themselves, WIth their progression toward increasing worth, are obviously
peripatetic m origin, it is doubtful that these periods can be accepted as
reliable statements about Sophoclean drama.
In 441 B.C .. Sophocles probably produced Antigone. for which he may
have won, first pnze, since the hypothesis, or ancient introduction. to this
( play states that the dramatist was elected general in 441/440. based upon
~
the ment of Antigone. The Athenian democracy of that penod Was per-
fectly capable of making political appointments on such an apolitical baSIS.
Other ancient sources imply that Sophocles saw no military action as gen-
eral in., the Samran Revolt that year but that. he did tr.avel to lama wah t.he
Athenian fleet.
Sophocles was certainly back in Athens in 438. When he won first pnze
With unknown plays agamst an Eunpidean group which included AlcestIS.
The dating of The Womell of Trachis IS perhaps the most fiercely debated
of ail extant Sophoclean tragedies. but the stylistic and thematic stmilarities
of this play to the firmly dated Alcestis make possible at least an approxi-
mate dating of The Womell of Trachis to the period between 435 and 429.
In 431. Sophocles, competing with an unknown group of plays. came in
second to the dramatist Euphorion , Aeschylus' son. Euripides carne in
third in that year with Medeia (431 B.C,: Medea). Sophocles made no pro-
duction at the Greater Dioriysia of 428. Electra IS another play which IS dif-
ficult to date accurately. but. based upon ItS links with Euripides' Elektra
(413 B.C.. Electra), Sophocles' play can at least be dated to the decade
beginning 420 B.C .. except for the year 415. when It IS known that Sopho-
des made no production. Only the last two extant plays are firmly dated:
Philoctetes , which won for him first prize in 409 B.C., and Oedipus at
Colonus, produced posthumously in 401 B.C. by Sophocles' grandson of the
i ~., same name, which also won for him first pnze.
U '~Q./ 'i '0)'1 In additIOn to h15 patriotism, So hocks was also noted for hIS piety. Spe-
\-~ "tiC;0 ~cil1caily, he is linked with the cult of the healing god Asclepius, w ose cult
II'!' 6<,0 the dramatist helped establish III Athens in 420 B.C, Sophocles' paean to
;c.Q....J Asclepius was quite famous in antiquity and still survives in fragments.
, Sophocles was a priest of the hero Halon. who was ntuaiiy connected With
Asclepius and under whose epithet. Dexion or "Receiver," Sophocles was
honored posthumously. Such associations with public cults, however, were
distinct in fifth century Athens from intellectual belief. and the classical
view of Sophocles as cairn, pious, and moderate has come to be questioned
by such modern scholars as C. H. Whitman. who notes that the extant
tragedies exhibit little of that blind piety which tradition links with the dra-
matist. Sophocles' true religious sentiments are lost behind the poetic veil
of his tragedies.
There are indications 111 ancient sources. that Sophocles had a troubled
family life m his old age. The playwnght had two sons: lophon by Nico-
 1728 Critical Survey of Drama
strata and Ariston by the Sicyonian woman Theoris. lophon was a drama-
tist in his own right and even competed against his father at least once.
Less is known about Ariston, except that hIS son, Sophocles. was so fa-
vored by the grandfather that lophon brought a lawsuit to have the old
man made a legal ward of his son on the grounds of senility. Sophocles,
speaking in his own defence at the trial. is said to have stated: "If I am
Sophocles, I am not insane: if I am Insane. I am not Sophocles." When
Sophocles concluded by reciting lines from Oedipus at COIOlHiS. his work in
progress, the case was dismissed.
In March of 406. at the proagon; or preview to the Greater Dionysia,
Sophocles dressed a chorus in mourning for the recent death of Eunpides.
This appearance at the proagon is evidence for a Sophoclean production in
that year, but Sophocles must have died shortly after the dramatic festival,
because in Anstophanes' The Frogs, produced in early 405, Sophocles IS
mentioned as already dead. Despite Sophocles advanced age, the ancient ,
sources still sought to embellish his death WIth several spurious causes: that
he choked on a grape (like Anacreon); that he became overexerted while
recitmg Antigone; or that he died for JOy after a dramatic VIctory. More ()
reliable is the report that Sophocles' family was granted special permission
from the Spartan general Lysander to bury the dramatist in hIS family plot
on the road to Dccclea. where the Spartans maintained a garnson. Death
thus spared Sophocles from wrtnessing the complete collapse of the Athe-
nian empire and the subrrnssion of Athens to Sparta in 405 to 404 B.C.
Analysis
The textual transmission of Sophocles is remarkably SImilar to that of
Aeschylus. WIth a first complete ancient edition by the Athenian orator
Lycurgus In the late fourth century and a definitive Alexandnan edition by
Aristophanes of Byzantium In the second century B.C. A school selection of
the seven extant tragedies was made sometime after the second century
A.D. and was reedited by the late fourth century rhetorician Salustius. The
plays may have survived the medieval period in only one manuscnpt,
although this has been debated. The present text was extensively revised in
the fourteenth century by several Byzantine scholars. including Planudes,
Thomas Magister, and Triclinius. The plays reached the West in the fifo
tcenth century. and the first printed edition of Sophocles was the Aldine
edition of Venice (1502).
The Life of Sophocles devotes a lengthy paragraph to describing the
playwright's links with the epic poetry of Homer. and scholars of all penods
have continued to note Sophoclean nnitatron of Homeric subject matter
~
and language. It is in the art of character development. and especially 10
the depiction of the hero. where Sophocles achieved hIS greatest success.
that he owes hIS major debt to Homer. Many Sophoclean characters.,
Sophocles 1729
including nearly all the dramatis personae of Ajax and the Odysseus of
Philoctetes, are derived from Homeric sources at least in part, but even
where Sophocles treats a subject not directly handled by Homer. such as
the stones of Oedipus and Antigone, the poetic techniques of Homer and
Sophocles intersect in their methods of character development. in the types
of characters depicted, and especially in their focus upon the heroic quali-
ties of particular individuals.
Even Aristotle recogruzed the importance of character development to
Sophoclean studies: in his Poetics, he frequently cited Sophocles' Oedipus
"
as the ideal tragic character and stated that "Sophocles is the same kind of
imitator as Horner. for both imitate characters of a higher type." Much
modern scholarship. too, has been devoted to a study of Sophocles; teCh.>
f
mque of character development and of the "Sophoclean hero." In parncu-
lar, the works of C. H. Whitman and of B. M. W. Knox have both helped
to clarify the characteristics of the Sophoclean hero and to show his affin-
ities with the Homenc hero. It IS Impossible to analyze a Sophoclean play
without studying Sophoeies~ character cleve-lownent and witho~t taking into
account the Aristotelian and tater mterpretanons of the Sophoclean hero
which have molded a modern understanding of this dramatist and his work.
At the same time, such an analysis must not lose SIght of Sophocles' other
dramatic skills, such as his mastery of dialogue and his use of the chorus.
both of which complement the development of Sophocles' main characters.
~
Sophocles' so-called Theban plays have always been considered the cen-
ter of his corpus. While AnUgone, Oedipus Tyrannus , and Oediupus at
Colonus do not form a connected trilogy and. indeed. represent prcduc-
tions spanning a penod of forty years. these plays project many consis-
tencies of style and character development which suggest some continurty
III Sophoclean dramatic art. The story of the unfortunate house of LalUS
..&. was a popular theme of fifth century Greek tragedy. but. except for Aes-
"oi-OS chy.us' Hepta epi Thebes (467 B.C .. Seven Against Thebes) and Euripides
Phoinissoi (c. 410 B.C.: The Phoenician H'on-zen) , which ar,c extant. fa~ too
little is known about any of these lost plays to JUdge their relationship to
the Sophoclean versions. The misfortunes of the house of Laius, including
Oedipus' destmy to kill his father and marry his mother as well as the mu-
tual fratricide of hIS sons. were mentioned by Homer, and several epICS on
this Theban cycle arc known to have survived past th~ fifth ~entury B.C.
Knowledge of these epics is scanty, but Sophoclean innovations 1I1 this
mythic cycle may include the blinding of Oedipus, the dramatic use of a 10'
cal Athenian legend' concerning the death of Oedipus m Sophocles' native
deme of Colonus, and the development of the story of Antigone.
:AnN one concerns the events after the deaths of her brothers Eteocles
5 >() nd Polyneices and her decision to bury Polyneices despite th.e decree of
~Q ('~ Creon. the new ruler of Thebes, that the body rem am unburied as a lesson
SV<"
 1732 Critical Survey of Drama
5>and perhaps the most vivid proof of the heroine is isolation from all human
\ contact in pursuit of her noble goal.
Antigone ends as quickly as it began. with a decision to free Antigone
forced upon Creon by the seer Tciresias. but not before it is too late. In
rapid succession, the suicides of Antigone. Hacmon, and his mother,
Eurydice. are announced, and Creon returns in the exodos, or last scene,
as a broken man. It IS Creon. not AntIgone. who comes closest to fittrng
the reqUirements of an Anstotelian tragIC hero. with a penpeteia, or "fall,"
> caused by hamartia, a "tragic flaw." Like both Xerxes III The Persians and
~
Aga.m .. emnon lll. the first play o.f .orestela' .creon s I.'lama!. tia may.. be. a fO.rmSo(j' '-is. 1.\ \fr'"
of faulty thinking that IS punished by the gods. (Creon himself realizes this
and uses the word liamartematai, By contrast. Antigone has no true
pertpeteia; while she does die, she dies as a Sophoclean hero III the glory ~
and Isolation of her self-conscious nobility. An Anstotelian tragic hero can \r\Q,ro
thus be found III this play, but only at Antigone's expense.
Oedipus Tyrannus concerns an earlier stage In the same myth. with the
discovery by Oedipus, Antigone's father, that he has fulfilled a Delphic
oracle by unwittingly killing hIS father, Latus, and marrymg his mother,
Jocasta. The play IS perhaps better known by its Latin title, Oedipus Rex
or Oedipus the King, but the Greek title, while probably not Sophoclean
(fifth century playwnghts apparently did not title their plays, which were
usually identified by their first lines), IS more dramatically accurate. Techni-
cally. the Greek word tyrannos: means not a "harsh ruler" but an "un- Qeo\~ !
constitutional" one. At the begrnmng of the play, Oedipus. having gained
power by solving the Sphinx's riddle, rules Thebes as a true tyrannos; yet,
dramatic events prove that Oedipus IS also Thebes's true basile us or "king,"
since he is really the son of the Jate King Laius. This Irony 111 Oedipus'
situauon IS the focus of the drama, which was so admired by Anstotle for
its depiction of peripeteia caused directly by anagnorisis or "recognition."
Sophocles further developed this irony, if not by actually inventmg the
blinding of Oedipus (who does not blind hinisclf inHomer),then by using
the the~e of SIght and blindness to reat drama~lc effect In t amous /(;"\ 9 f're..
scene WIth eiresias, in which the blind prophet IS forced by Oedipus to IV.
contrast hIS own true knowledge With the ruler's Ignorance; TeIrCS13S tells 1\\f\~{I,f
Oedipus: "You have eyes but cannot see in what evil you are." In an ironic ~
sense, then, the action of the play is directed toward an Oedipus, who sees
with his eyes but not with hIS mind. becoming like Teiresias. who sees with
his mind but not with his eyes. Oedipus Tyrannus is a true tragedy of
discovery.
Many of the same dramatic skills found in Antlgone can also be seen in
Oedipus Tyrannus. In this play, too, Sophocles combines rapid action and
dialogue with careful character development. One striking difference be-
tween Antigone and Oedipus Tyrannus, however, is structural: Oedipus Ty-
Sophocles 1733
ranlltlS lacks the diptych form and vacillation between two main characters
which are found in Antigone. Rather, Oedipus Tyrannus is focused entirely
on Oedipus and the development of his personality. Tills development is
accomplished through a series of dialogues between Oedipus and most of
the other dramatis personae. beginning in the prologue and not ending un-
til Oedipus learns the fatal truth of Ins identity in the fourth episode. In
these scenes, the qualities of a Sophoclean hero are again and again
o.e...~'('1 revealed in Oedipus: in his heroic intransigence, his determination to dis-
,,",0 I cover the murderer of Laius and his own identity; 1Il his sense of nobility
and self-worth: III his angry alienation from all who try to help. Like An-
Is"::o~'f' tigone, Oedipus' own heroic nature leads him on to self-destruction.
f'r ~(.. Aristotle's admiration of Oedipus Tyrannus as the ideal tragedy has. in a
is sense, been a Trojan horse for this play, because It has directed too much
i scholarly attention to Aristotle's interpretation of the play, an interpretation
I SnJ f ) , which is more Aristotle's reaction to Plato's prohibition of tragedy 1Il The
' Republic than it is a close reading of Oedipus Tyrannus, Anstotle sought to
counter Plato's objections to tragedy by making Oedipus into a morally sat-
isfying character. by seemg in Oedipus a man, neither outstandingly virtu-
ous nor evil. who falls into misfortune through hamartia. By doing this.
Aristotle has created several thorny questions for the play: Does Oedipus
I really have a tragic flaw? Could he have acted any differently and still have
\'))..). r been himself" Finally, is Oedipus of only average VIrtue? The Sophoclean
answer to all of these questions could only have been negative. Oedipus IS
! not an ordinary person. He IS the solver of the Sphinxs riddle and a man
! of superior Intelligence. He is a man of outstanding virtue. In short. he 1S a
Sophoclean hero. To have acted other than he did would have meant a
denial of his heroic identity, a denial of himself. This heroic firmness IS a
remarkably constant theme III the Sophoclean corpus. It can be found III
, the suicide of Ajax, ill the desperate love of Deiancira, in the CIvil dis-
\ & i. obedience of Antigone, in the inquest of Oedipus the tyrannus . III the ha-
OW' ,I tred of Electra, III the suffering of Philoctetes, and in the mysterious death
of Oedipus at Colon us. Sophocles) primary contribution to the history of
hs drama, then. IS his masterful focus on character development, and, III par-
ticular. hIS portrayal of the unyietding hero.
!
I Bibliography
Bowra. C. M. Sophoclean Tragedy, 1944.
Burton, R. IV. B. The Chorus in Sophocles' Tragedies, 1980.
Knox, B. M. W. The HerOIC Tempel': Studies III Sophoclean Tragedy, 1964.
Whitman, C. H. Sophocles: A Study of HerOIC Humanism, 1951.
Thomas J. Sienkewicz