Spring 2010 - Interpretation

Book Review: Greek Tragedy and Political Philosophy 3 0 9
Oedipus is judged noble because of his efforts to accomplish
the common good of his adopted country. But his nobility only heightens
his sense of desperation, since true nobility requires that he succeed, and not
just try. He therefore feels himself obliged to pursue every means of saving
Thebes, including the uncovering of Laius’s killer. Nobility, put to the test by
necessity, leads to piety as a last resort.
Still, noble sacrifice for the good of others proves not to
be Oedipus’s deepest concern. Ahrensdorf maintains—and convincingly
argues—that Oedipus is actuated more by the desire that he be the savior of
Thebes than that Thebes be actually saved. For after the confrontation with
Teiresias, Oedipus thinks no more of Thebes but of his own innocence, forgetting
to ask the lone witness to the incident at the cross-roads whether one
or more killers were involved. Ahrensdorf also notes that Oedipus welcomes
news of the death of his Corinthian father, lest it somehow turn out that
Oedipus is the person responsible, as was prophesized by an oracle; Oedipus
tries killing Jocasta, seemingly in an effort to fulfill an oracle; and by blinding
himself he does lasting harm to his sons and daughters. (Somewhat less convincing
is Ahrensdorf’s contention that Oedipus leaves Corinth to further his
political ambition.)
Why does Oedipus blind himself? The blinding signifies
that Oedipus accepts the judgment of the gods, even to the point of applying
additional punishment to himself. In return, Oedipus expects to receive
everlasting life as a reward and blessing of the gods. Oedipus’s turn to piety
is at bottom self-interested. And because even Oedipus—the paradigmatic
rational man—seeks solace in the hope of immortality, the lesson drawn by
Sophocles—or by Ahrensdorf on the poet’s behalf—is that immortality is the
hope of nearly every man; and that piety, therefore, is an irrepressible fact of
political life requiring deft management by those in charge.
Oedipus does indeed seem divinely favored in the succeeding
play. At Colonnus he is wise for being blind, whereas in Thebes he was
foolish despite his sight. Sight—or reason—is unseeing, while blindness—or
piety—sees all. The gods now approve of Oedipus, chastened and dependent,
and at the end of the play they transport him to Hades. But the only witness
of the event, King Theseus, does not exactly confirm the apotheosis; in
fact, Theseus implies that Oedipus died a natural death and that his body lies
buried in a secret spot. Divine judgment—which if known would settle the
reason-piety debate—seems no more certain than the mystery of Oedipus’s
disappearance.