Oedipus as Tyrant in Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus

1 Eur. Ion 621–32; frag. 605N (from Peliades); Xen. Hiero 1.12, 2.7–18, 6.4–8, 11.11; Lanza 45–49, with further references; also Ael. VH 14.22, recently discussed by Spina. 2 Dawe takes lines 697–862 as the Third Episode. Oedipus as Tyrant in Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus Lowell Edmunds Rutgers University This paper returns to an old but not yet exhausted subject, Oedipus as tyrant in the tragedy named Oedipus Tyrannus. The famous line in the Second Stasimon, u{bri~ futeuvei tuvrannon (“hybris begets the tyrant,” 873), has been a focal point of discussion . Those who take this line as referring to Oedipus discover tyrannical behavior and/or tyrannical impiety in the two preceding scenes. A spate of discussion in the past twenty years has produced, however, no consensus that Oedipus is in fact the referent of this line. I say nothing at this point of Knox’s famous thesis that Oedipus the tyrant stands for Athens the tyrant city. Oedipus is certainly a tyrant. Tyranny is a theme of this tragedy, which is not misnamed. But the tyranny of Oedipus has different meanings for different characters (including the chorus) and different meanings at different times. An overview of the theme will bring out this point and lead to a proposal for a new approach. In the Prologue (1–150), the word tuvranno~ is not used except of the regime of Laius (128). The nature of Oedipus’ authority is indicated by words formed on the base krat- (14, 40, 54–55, 237). In the First Episode (216–462), Oedipus soon suspectsTeiresias and Creon of a conspiracy against him. Creon, he believes, hopes to supplant him as tyrant (383–86). It is the tyrant’s characteristic fear.1 This fear determines Oedipus’ confrontation with Creon in the Second Episode (513–862).2 This 64 SYLLECTA CLASSICA episode begins with the appearance of Creon, who states that he has learned that “the tyrant Oedipus” is making terrible accusations against him. After Oedipus’ apostrophe toTyranny in the preceding scene (380) andTeiresias’ use of the verb turavnnein (408), it is difficult to believe that the audience perceived Creon’s use of tuvranno~ as neutral.3 In any case, this word proves to be the heading, as it were, for the ensuing episode with its copious reference to tyranny. Oedipus spares his brother-in-law’s life, but, after his exit, remains in a state of anger against him. Jocasta attempts to reassure her husband and, in doing so, divulges a detail concerning the murder of Laius that causes Oedipus to suspect that he may be the murderer. Oedipus’ fear concerning his tyranny is now replaced by a new fear, and the rest of the tragedy is taken up with his investigation of the murder, which leads to the recognition and peripety. No speaker ever uses the word tuvranno~ again in a negative sense; it is only a neutral or honorific title.4 As for the chorus, throughout the play it remains loyal to Oedipus. For this reason alone it seems to me unlikely that the famous line in the Second Stasimon refers to Oedipus. The chorus does, however, have its own notion of tyranny, and thus, as I shall argue, of the tyranny of Oedipus. The difference in perspectives between the chorus and the other characters is best described in terms of different ideologies concerning tyranny, one specifically Athenian, the other panhellenic, i.e. also known to and therefore suggestible to Athenians , whether or not they shared it. Sophocles, it will be argued , has characterized Oedipus as the typical tyrant, and the fall of Oedipus is the expected fall of the tyrant from his pinnacle . It is the pattern of reversal established in other tragedies and in Herodotus and well known to persons like the detractor of Solon, to be quoted below.5 In this way, the action of Oedipus 3 Cf. O’Neil (29), who doubts that, after Teiresias’ use of “tyrant” in line 408, the audience “saw it merely as a word for king.” 4 Lines 925 (messenger from Corinth), 939 (Oedipus to be tyrant of Corinth), 1043 (Oedipus, of Laius), 1095 (chorus, of Oedipus). 5...