Hamartia is the Greek word for “error”, also translated in the New
Testament as “sin”. In Greek tragedies there is always some sort of hamartia, usually the catalyst for all the character's problems.
In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ hamartia
was killing the strangers he encountered on his way back from the oracle. That
is where his troubles really begin and that is the mistake that began the
fulfillment of his prophecy. If he had not killed the men on the road, one of
which we know was his father, the king would have still been alive in Thebes.
Once he had solved the riddle of the Sphinx and freed the people there would
not have been a crown for Oedipus to take. If he hadn't become king, he wouldn't
have married his mother and born children who were really half siblings. Killing
the king was the start of the fulfillment of the prophecy and that is where all
Oedipus’ troubles stem from.
It is possible to argue that Oedipus
was fully justified in killing these men—they had run him off the road by force
and when the old man passed Oedipus he “struck [Oedipus] on the head with the
two-pronged goad” (line 837). The driver provoked him and so did the others. Of
course Oedipus was angry about this, especially after the prophecy he had just
been told. He of course did not consider killing those men a mistake, it seems
he didn’t think much about it at all until he realises one of those men could
have been Laius. However this is still in some ways the turning point of the
story, the error that starts everything else going. This is Oedipus’ great
error even though he doesn’t realise it at the time.
I agree with your idea. When we were reading "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," we talked a lot about how the gods demand justice in the world, but it can never be fully satisfied. Oedipus upset the balance when he killed the King, even though he did it unknowingly, and now the gods demand justice. The plagued Thebes until the demands of justice were met. The death of the king is what started the whole problem. But I also think it goes farther back than the incident at the cross roads. If Oedipus was not in that place at that time, he would not have been provoked into killing anyone. This brings up an idea that everything that happens to us is because of a choice we've made, and we wouldn't have made any other choice if we were put in the same situation again. In a way, our fates are unavoidable.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how different the views of modern society are from the views of the ancients, and yet how the emotions are all very much the same. That idea of the inescapable fate is really almost the exact opposite of ours. Ancient Greek myths are filled with people trying to escape the fulfillment of the Oracles' prophecies (which makes me wonder why they keep consulting the oracles) but they are completely unable to avoid them. Oedipus trying to avoid it ended up leading to his eventual destructive fate, and many kings before him follow the same path. Yet our society prizes mercy and redoes as a very real means of escape from some potential consequences of justice. Personally, I prefer our mercy and retry view to their inescapable justice one.
ReplyDeleteVery good point, Emily. I like how you were able to find the true root of the problem, going all the way back to the beginning. I think that sometimes we can think that other people have offended us, even done the unspeakable, and we hold the grudge. What usually happens is that sometime, we actually did something ourselves to hurt them. It's a tricky game sometimes, but in the end, everyone has done something wrong and probably should be aware of it sooner than later. Troubles tend to fester over time.
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