Oedipus the King as a Classical Tragedy

In Aristotle's Poetics, it is stated that a tragedy must be

complete - having a beginning, a middle and an end,"...the sequence of events,
according to the law of probability or necessity, will admit of a change from bad
fortune to good or from good fortune to bad."

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a typical classical tragedy

because it has the element of tragic setting, atmosphere and mood, tragic character
with tragic hamartia, tragic plot design moving to tragic disintegration, and
therefore the tragic realization by the character and audience. Like most Greek
plays of ancient times, it observes all the three unities -- unity of place, unity of
time and unity of action. The entire action of the play takes place at the royal
palace in the city of Thebes. It occupies no more than the twenty-four hours which
was the maximum duration permissible according to rules. Our entire attention is
focused on a single theme- the investigation made by Oedipus into the murder of
Laius and the discovery of the truth- without any side-plots or under-plots.

Besides the tragic plot, we have a typically tragic character,

Oedipus. We try to convert the story of Oedipus from that of a supremely gifted
and heroic individual who takes on life on his own terms and discovers the full
mysterious destructiveness of the cosmos into a comforting morality story which
tells us that Oedipus suffers because he sinned. Oedipus' nobility derives from
many and diverse sources and the audience develop a great respect and emotional
attachment to him. Like a tragic character, Oedipus’ tragic weakness is that he is
over confident, careless and disrespectful towards the gods, and what the fate and
the oracles have disclosed for him. He defies his inner voice and wisdom with
regards to fate and destiny. The impetus for the downfall of Oedipus, his
"hamartia, "known far and wide by name", is his anger. Enraged, he slew King
Laius and in anger he hastily pursued his own ruination. From the recriminations
of Tiresias to the conflict with his brother-in-law Creon, damming insight grows in
a logical sequence, all the while fueled by the Oedipal rage.

Finally, Oedipus' downfall elicits a great sense of pity from the

audience. First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus
achieves a kind of surrogate death that intensifies his suffering. In effect, Oedipus
is dead, for he receives none of the benefits of the living. At the same time, he is
not dead by definition, and so his suffering cannot end. Oedipus receives the worst
of both worlds between life and death, and he elicits greater pity from the
audience.

Fate is a theme that often occurs in classical tragedies. The

ancient Greeks acknowledged the role of Fate as a reality outside the individual
that shaped and determined human life. The idea that attempting to avoid an oracle
summons death in a common motif in many Greek myths, and similarities to
Oedipus can be seen in the myth of the birth of Perseus. Two oracles in particular
dominate the plot of Oedipus the King. However, the oracle told to Laius tells only
of the patricide; the incest is missing.

The oracle delivered to Oedipus is a "self-fulfilling prophecy",

because it itself sets in motion events that conclude with its own fulfillment. The
oracle inspires a series of specific choices, freely made by Oedipus, which lead
him to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus chooses not to return to
Corinth after hearing the oracle, just as he chooses to head toward Thebes, to kill
Laius, to marry and to take Jocasta specifically as his bride; in response to the
plague at Thebes, he chooses to send Creon to the Oracle for advice and then to
follow that advice, initiating the investigation into Laius's murder. None of these
choices is predetermined.

Thus, Sophocles’ Oedipus The king is a tragedy of fate; its

tragic effect depends on the conflict between the all-powerful will of the gods and
the vain efforts of human beings threatened with disaster; resignation to the divine
will, and the perception of one's own impotence.