Oedipus the Elite?

The elite are many times the ones with the power. In the case of Oedipus by Sophocles, Oedipus’ title, wealth, and consequent threat of power allows for the fated Oedipus to consider his oracle as false. As King and savior of Thebes, his pride only adds to his idea of being elite. When the “blind seer” Teiresias is pressed for Oedipus’ oracle, Oedipus lashes out because of the outrageous prophesy that is already set in motion, “Kingly position, everywhere admired! What savage envy is stored up against these…if for this power Kreon desires in secret to destroy me!” (366-372). Oedipus believes that his power and title can save him from his own fate, as an elite he is able to control circumstances around him, thus more quickly leading to his demise.

Oedipus’ demise is a tragedy. In many tragedies, the elite have farther to fall and a harder hit when they fall. Oedipus demonstrates this perfectly when he realizes that he has sealed his fate by fleeing from his “family” and into murdering his father and marrying his mother. Guilty of regicide and incest among other assertions, Oedipus’ “elite” status allows for a false sense of control over his fate. The farther he falls, and the harder he hits, makes everything about Oedipus so much more tragic, “No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, yet in the end ruin swept over him” (1472-1473). The chorus states the rejection of Oedipus at the end of the play, while readers and play-goers alike breathe a sigh of relief that as mostly commoners, the fall is not so far. Do we, as readers, relate to Oedipus’ tragic fall as much as we should? Oedipus is believed to be elite, so can only true tragedy happen to the elite?

Sophocles. Oedipus. London: Nick Hern, 2001. Print.