Two views towards the cause of Oedipus’tragic fall

劉君雅

【摘要】俄狄浦斯是悲劇《俄狄浦斯王》的主人公，以亞里士多德為代表的一些學者認為其悲劇是由自身弱點和錯誤導致的，還有一些人認為命運才是根本成因。本文對以上兩種觀點進行分析，進一步探索俄狄浦斯悲劇的原因。

【關鍵詞】俄狄浦斯 悲劇成因 亞里士多德 命運

【Abstract】Oedipus is the protagonist in Oedipus the King.Some scholars，represented by Aristotle，believe that flaws in Oedipus nature and errors he makes cause his tragedy； while another view is that fate should be blamed.This paper aimed at analyzing the two different opinions to further explore the cause of Oedipus tragic fall.

【Key Words】Oedipus； causes of tragedy； Aristotle； fate

Oedipus is a famous tragic hero in literary history.The causes of his tragic fall has been discussing for many years.

Aristotle believes the protagonist in a “fine” tragedy should be a man “who neither perfect in virtue and justice，nor one who falls into misfortune through vice and depravity； but rather，one who succumbs through some miscalculation，such as Oedipus…” So according to Aristotle，the flaws and errors of Oedipus cause his tragedy，First of all，Oedipus has some flaws in his nature：impulsiveness，recklessness and stubbornness.He killed all the people in the triple-branching roads out of indignation，which fully shows his recklessness.Apart from this，Oedipuss obstinacy of self-knowing makes him move towards tragedy step by step.“The play is a tragedy of self-knowledge”.Jocasta tried to persuade Oedipus from searching his origin，but he insisted doing it.Oedipus has always been trying to figure out his origin，to know himself，equate himself （what he knows himself to be） with himself （what he essentially is）.If he hadnt been so stubborn and given up searching his origin，he would have not fallen into tragedy； at least he would have not fallen into tragedy by himself.Secondly，Oedipus makes some errors.There is no doubt that killing his father and marry his mother are two errors Oedipus made.But these are superficial ones.People who in Aristotles group point out that the error of Oedipus，in essence，is disobeying gods oracle and defying gods authority.The oracle tells Oedipus that he will kill his father and marry his mother but he tries to avoid his fate after he hears of the oracle.However，oracles cannot be avoided at that period.Richard Stoneman points out that “at least people might believe，although the idea that a thing is fated should preclude its being averted” and “characters in the tragedy of Oedipus rail against seers and oracles does not undermine the seers and oracles because the audience knows they are right and Oedipus and Jocasta are wrong，as their fates will show”.Oracle cannot be disobeyed but Oedipus still does it，which causes his tragedy.

Another view towards this debating question is that Oedipus doesnt make errors； what causes his tragic fall is the fate.Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother unintentionally.Firstly，lets suppose that the old man killed by Oedipus and the queen were not Oedipus parents but normal people without blood relationship with Oedipus.In that case，can killing people and marrying a woman be seen as errors？ Oedipus kills people unintentionally out of self-defense.He solves the riddle and marries the queen.Everything is reasonable.Next come to the oracle.When somebody tells you that something bad will happen on you，the first reaction of a normal person is to try to avoid it.According to the idea that Gods oracle cannot be avoided and Gods oracle will be fulfilled，Oedipus must fall in the tragedy of killing his father and marrying his mother.That means no matter he tries to avoid the oracle or not，he is destined to have a tragic ending.In that case，it cannot be said that the error of avoiding Gods oracle causes his tragedy，instead，his fate.

How can we evaluate the two kinds of ideas？ In fact，the real conflict between the two kinds of ideas is not whether killing the father and marrying the mother is reasonable but whether human can try to avoid the oracle.People with the former views believe that the oracle is holy which cannot be avoided and nobody can avoid it.They are the group of people who believe in gods and oracles.On the contrary，people with the second view are much more rational.They dont think people should give up to the oracle or people should be deprived the basic rights of human being.When somebody know the bad oracles of himself，it is reasonable to try to avoid it even though he may fail at last.This is rational thinking，a forward looking which is more similar to modern thinking.Sophocles lived in the time when the backward looking and the forward looking intertwined with each other.Oedipus the king raises the discussion about the two kinds of thinking.Maybe it is the power of classical works.