A Rebuttal to E. R. Dodds On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex Essay

A Rebuttal to E. R. Dodds On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex In On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex, E. R. Dodds takes issue with three different opinions on Oedipus Rex. I consider the first two opinions, which Dodds gleaned from student papers, to be defensible from a close reading of the text. The first of these opinions is that Oedipus was a bad man, and was therefore punished by the gods Dodds counters that Sophocles intended for us to regard him as good, noble, and selfless. But the play would seem to indicate that Oedipus, while a clever man, is not a good adept -- this can be shown through Dodds own source of argument, the attitude of the chorus, as well as through Oedipus own actions onstage. Oedipus does not, as Dodds asserts, unselfishly seek by the truth even though he knows it will be painful for him rather, he has no idea what the outcome of his search will be, denies the truth at every turn, and threatens those who speak it. The second conclusion drawn by students -- that Oedipus actions are entirely determined by the gods, who control him completely -- Dodds pooh-poohs on the grounds that Oedipus is a free agent, acting on his own initiative. In fact, Dodds states, the idea of free will vs. determinism is a Hellenistic thought and would not have even occured to an sense of hearing of Sophocles time. I believe that, as all of Oedipus actions, including those over the course of the play, were determined before his birth, and he cannot avoid them although it is his will to do so, those actions cannot be construed as satisfying choice. This play contains many post-Sophoclean ideas, such as denial, that (while not yet named by Greek society) still were understood by the audience. In his rebuttal of the first opi... ... aim at it as Greeks would, isnt this the same as saying that the play is meaningless to todays readers? One of the wonders of classic texts is that every generation will find something new in them. This should not be looked up on as a sign of students ignorance, but rather of their ingenuity. Works Cited and ConsultedDodds, E. R. On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex A Collection of hypercritical Essays. Ed. Michael J. OBrien. New Jersey Prentice-Hall, 1968. 17-29.Hamilton, Edith. Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York Penguin Books, 1940.Knox, Bernard M. W. The Heroic Temper Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy. Berkeley U of California Press, 1964.Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York Longman, 1997. 800-836.