Sophoclean Theodicy: Fate and the Role of the Gods

I haven't really focused much on religions other than Christianity, with the exception of the popularity of my reading review I did on the Yoruba religion, which I'm guessing is due to the fact that if you google image search "naked Yoruba religion" one of the pictures I used is the first option. But whatevs, I'm happy for the traffic. Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the religion of the ancient Greeks! I recently wrote a paper on how Sophocles uses fate in his plays to inspire his audience of citizens in a religious way. While it is common knowledge that the Greeks are known for their tragedies, Sophocles uses these tragedies to explain theodicy. Theodicy, coming from the Greek words "god" and "justice", is a theological attempt to explain evil in the world, while still maintaining the notion that a god(s) is good. While Greek thought obviously varied on theology, I will show how Sophocles used two of his plays to address theodicy and inspire religiously. I will be looking at Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Rex) and Antigone. I will not be summarizing the plots for either of these two plays, as the plot of Greek plays are rather complex and rely on known myths, so click on their titles as previously mentioned for a summary.

The general Sophoclean formula used for both of these plays contain a Winner, a Loser, and a Seer. The Winner, being the character who values the will of the gods, ends the play in a positive light; either being blessed or by getting what they want. The Loser, being the character who values their own will over the gods' will, end up devastated and lose their will to continue normal life. The Seer is an oracle who holds three roles: a human nature, a listener to the gods, and a seer of fate. This character, while seemingly the one who could influence the play the most, is actually the character who seems to be stuck outside the realm of action.

Oedipus solving the Sphinx's riddle

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is the Loser. He is shown to be arrogant, likening himself to Apollo, and disrespectful to the voice of the gods, the Seer Teiresias. He ends up finding out about his already-occurred fate: he killed his father and married mother. This results in his mother/wife killing herself, and Oedipus, in his despair, gouging out his own eyes and losing his kingship to Kreon.

Kreon, in turn, acts as the Winner. He is shown to be considerate of the will of the gods by Jocasta and the chorus of Theban elders. He won't even banish Oedipus from the city once it is learned that it is him who is polluting it and causing the plague until he double checks what to do from Apollo's oracle. While Kreon was falsely and irrationally accused by Oedipus early on in the play, it is Kreon who inherits Oedipus' kingship and power in the end.

Antigone mourning for Polyneikes

In Antigone, it is actually Kreon who is the Loser. It is important that to know that these two plays, while both written by Sophocles, were independent works, not continuations. Kreon is shown to be arrogant, being more concerned for the respect shown to his city than the rites the gods demand to be done to the dead. He, like Oedipus, accuses Teiresias of being corrupt when Teiresias tries to warn Kreon to bury the Polyneikes and free Antigone for his own sake. By the time Kreon reluctantly agrees to Teiresias' wise words, Antigone has already hanged herself, which results in Kreon's son, Haimon, who is in love with Antigone, to kill himself, which results in Kreon's wife to kill herself. Kreon is left devastated and wishes for death in the end.

Antigone, despite her death, is the Winner. Throughout the play Antigone is shown to be a stubborn, independent woman who would rather die than compromise. While she makes this choice in the end, she didn't need too: she had beaten Kreon in the battle of wills. She, a woman, bested Kreon, a king. It is this same woman who inspired the name of the play.

This may seem like a simple theodicy approach: if you don't live by the gods, the gods will punish you. But this isn't the case, and if it were it would probably not inspire many. The gods do not come down and curse anyone for their actions. Instead, it is fate that causes strife, revealed by the agent of the gods, the Seer. This separates the gods' will from fate itself. Yet whom does fate affect? Those whose lives do not honor the gods. It implies that that fate is in fact naturally and unavoidably punishing those who do not honor the gods. Which further implies that the gods' laws are for our own benefit, not theirs. This gives the inspiring message to those who saw it: it promoted the goodness of the gods' role in their lives and showed the consequences of those who did not honor that role. This mechanism shows that one should not honor the gods out of fear of punishment from mere divine bullies, but rather one is to honor the gods who are looking out for our best interest, knowing of a separate force outside of their control, Fate.