Examples Of Catharsis In Oedipus The King

Literature to the Renaissance
April 25, 2012
Sophocles King of Catharsis What is Catharsis? Aristotle describes catharsis as the purging of the emotions of pity and fear that are aroused in the viewer of a tragedy. Debate continues about what Aristotle actually means by catharsis, but the concept is linked to the positive social function of tragedy (english.hawaii.edu). A good example of a Catharsis play is Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Pity and fear are the dominating feelings produced by the play. The play is dripping with catharsis, from beginning to end.
The prologue starts off the catharsis in the play. It produces in us pity and fear, pity for the suffering people of Thebes and fear of the future misfortunes that might befall them. The song the Chorus chants in the prologue heightens the feelings of pity and fear. The Chorus says
“With fear my heart is riven; fear not what shall be told.
Fear is upon us (Sophocles duq.edu).” Fear being mentioned by the Chorus builds up our fear for what might happen to the people and their king. Oedipus’s proclamation about tracking down Laius’s murderer brings a sense of relief for us. It helps us believe that by catching the murderer that Thebes will be restored; not knowing who the murderer is just yet. The curse he puts upon the unknown “criminal” and upon all who might be harboring him, gives us a sense of fear due to the fierceness in which it is spoken. When Oedipus clashes with Teiresias it contributes to the feelings of pity and terror, the prophecy of Teiresias is frightening because it relates to Oedipus. Teiresias speaks to Oedipus in alarming tones, he reveals him as being “brother and father both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both, he sowed the loins his father sowed, he spilled his father’s blood (Sophocles 624)” and accusing him openly of being a murderer and incest.
Then tension comes into play when Oedipus’s suspicion on hearing from Jocasta that Laius was killed where three roads meet. When Oedipus remembers his arrival at Thebes, this sparks the feeling of terror by its reference to the prophecy which he received from the oracle, but both terror and pity kind of go away when Jocasta tries to assure Oedipus that prophecies deserve no attention. The song the Chorus sings revives some of the terror in our minds, but it again kind of goes away at the arrival of the Corinthian after hearing from him, Jocasta mocks at the oracles. The drama now continues at a slow pace till first Jocasta and then Oedipus find themselves confronted with the truths of the situations. With the discovery of truth, both the feelings of pity and fear reach their climax, with Oedipus thinking about his sinful acts of killing his father and marrying his mother. But the feelings of pity and fear do not end there. The song of the Chorus following the discovery awakens our deepest sympathy for Oedipus’s sad fate.
Now coming to the end of the play there is still more catharsis to behold. After the song of the Chorus a messenger enters revealing that Jocasta has hung herself and Oedipus has blinded himself. This makes us feel even more pity for Oedipus because instead of choosing death like Jocasta he just chose to blind himself. It was kind of like death would be taking the easy way out; he knows that Thebes suffered because of him and that he was the one who murdered their king, his father. The messenger ends his announcement by saying that the royal household is today overwhelmed by “calamity, death, ruin, tears and shame”. Also the deep grief that Oedipus is experiencing is felt by us, the audience, with an equal intensity. The part of the play when Oedipus meets with his daughters is very touching. His daughters will have to wander homeless and husbandless. He asks Creon, in moving words, to look after them. We can always sympathize with the emotions Oedipus is feeling when having to leave his children, because to most of us losing your children is one of the worst things that could happen, not being able to see your own children ever again pulls at your heart strings. Seeing that seen in the play brings a great deal of sadness, grief and even pity, pity for Oedipus and his daughters.
The feeling of pity and fear has been continuously experienced from the very opening scene of the play. Other feelings awakened in our hearts were responses to Oedipus at his ill-treatment of Teiresias, his anger against Teiresias for his lies and blasphemes, admiration for Creon for his loyalty, liking for Jocasta for her love and devotion to Oedipus, admiration for Oedipus for his relentless pursuits of truth. We also have the feelings of relief, delight and sadness. These feelings are the results of our own fascination with human greatness and human misery. We enjoy seeing how great a human can be, but we also enjoy other human’s misery. We also enjoy that we can relate to the emotions and maybe even the situations in the play, maybe not as drastic situations as the ones in this play but similar ones. The sins of Oedipus were committed unknowingly; Oedipus did everything he could to make the prophecy not come true. He tried his best to avoid this disaster. Oedipus is essentially an innocent man, despite his sin of pride and tyranny. Jocasta too is innocent, in spite of her sin. She had no idea that Oedipus was her son, she believed that her son was dead. There is no villainy to be condemned in this play. The essential goodness of Oedipus, Jocasta and Creon is pleasing to us; it’s even more pleasing though because it is also a heartwrencher. In the closing scene, the blind Oedipus rises truly like a hero, displaying an enlightening spirit. Even though he’s now blind and helpless, and extremely ashamed of his incestuous experience, he shows an invulnerable mind and it is this that has a cheering, uplifting and exhilarating effect upon us.
Catharsis is the purging of pity and fear that are aroused in the viewer of a tragedy. Oedipus is full of Catharsis from beginning till the end. The audience is constantly purging their pity and fear for Oedipus the King, pity for Oedipus and Jocasta for not knowing what they have done and what they’ve brought upon their household and Thebes. Fear of what’s going to happen to their daughters and what the future holds for Thebes. Catharsis is a way to purges your emotions and I believe that Oedipus the King is a good example of a tragedy with more than enough catharsis.