Oedipus

The act begins with an aside that reveals Oedipus’s internal anxieties and fears. It is an important moment because it functions as the explanation for his anagnorisis, or his moment of recognition. His anxieties also prompt his questions to Jocasta, suggesting that Oedipus is subconsciously aware of his past sin and the possibility that he killed Laius, as he independently pinpoints a particular event in his life—his murder of a man on the road to Thebes.

Oedipus’s questioning of Jocasta narrows in on the truth, but before Oedipus can process the information, the messenger Old Corinthian interrupts. Seneca builds tension by delaying the full recognition that Oedipus is on the brink of experiencing, momentarily giving Oedipus false hope that his anxieties are wrong.

When Oedipus hears the news of his adopted father’s death, Oedipus exclaims that “vicious Fortune hits [him] from all sides” (786). While the death of his presumed birth father upsets him personally, he rejoices that he can live now without fearing that he will fulfill the prophecy. Despite this bit of fortune, Oedipus worries that his “fate’s more fearful part remains” (792). While Oedipus is trying to reassure himself that he will not fulfill the prophecy, this news still does little to address the killing of Laius and the cause of the plague.

In Sophocles’s version, after Oedipus asks Jocasta his extensive questions, they summon a man who was with Laius and survived the attack, who happens to also be the shepherd that abandoned baby Oedipus on the mountain. In Sophocles’s play, Jocasta recognizes the truth before Oedipus does. In Seneca’s retelling, Oedipus, on the brink of his anagnorisis, sends for Old Corinthian and Phorbas in order to connect Jocasta’s description with his memory in spite of Jocasta’s uneasiness. Seneca’s version emphasizes Jocasta’s ignorance and increases the horror she experiences upon the revelation. The prophecy is confirmed through the baby’s maternity, further holding Jocasta responsible.

In the chorus’s comments upon fate, they compare Oedipus to Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus, an enslaved master craftsman who created the Labyrinth of the mythical Minotaur. Attempting to escape, Icarus and Daedalus try to fly away on feather and wax wings Daedalus constructed. Despite many warnings, Icarus flies too close to the sun, melts his wings, and falls to his death. In some ways, this comparison between Icarus and Oedipus seems inexact: Icarus’s act of hubris, or excessive pride, is to choose to disobey the gods’ warning, while Oedipus unknowingly commits his sins. Nevertheless, the chorus ultimately condemns both for sinning against the gods: In his attempt to change fate, Oedipus tries to rise too high and challenge the gods in much the same way that Icarus does.