Oedipus Journal #2: Setting

Setting:

This includes cultural as well as geographical and historical setting. What effect does the setting have on story, character, theme?

Oedipus the King is set in ancient Greece, in the city state Thebes. Most of Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy takes place, or involves Thebes in some way. Thebes is located north of the Cithaeron mountain range; which is where young Oedipus was left to die. The city is located on the Boeotian plains which is separated by the mountains from the Attica, where Athens was located. For most of its existence, Thebes was a major city state of Greece. Its main rival was Athens, which probably influenced Sophocles' writing of Oedipus. Thebes also has a history of conflict with Athens, first by siding with Persians, and later in the Greek civil war, allied with Sparta. During the latter part of Sophocles life, Greece was embroiled in this war and it definitely affect his writing. Up until Alexander the Great's conquest of Greece, Thebes was one of the most powerful city on the Balkan Peninsula.

The city of Thebes and its conflict with Athens heavily inspired the plot, characters, and themes of the Oedipus trilogy. Sophocles portrays Thebes in a negative manner, and praises Athens. Oedipus's body is phrophised to bring fortune and a military victory to the city where he is buried. The character of Theseus (in Oedipus at Colonus) is a romanticized character that displays the characteristics of Athenians.

Traditional Greek, or perhaps Homeric, values heavily inspired the trilogy. Oedipus, despite his struggles, maintains a sense of duty to his family and city. He is especially zealous to help his city in the beginning of Oedipus the King. As mentioned above, Theseus also contain these values of honor and pride that most Greeks valued.

During the time of Sophocles, Athens, due to its sea and commercial dominance, attracted talented people from all over Greece, and developing its culture in the process. The fine arts were sponsored by the government of Athens with its profits acquired from sea trade and the Delian League. Without these factors, the wealth of Hellenistic literary art wouldn't have existed.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does Sophocles believe in free will? Since everything prophetised happens, but also Oedipus blinds himself, which he said was of his own hand.

2. Why is there the reoccurring motif of Thebes and its seven great gates? Is seven significant, and/or the gates?