It’s as though a map was drawn, and Oedipus was trapped on a road leading to a dead end. This dead end, however, stabs Oedipus’ soul and releases an honest poetic nature exposed through the pain of his fate. Oedipus may not be the artist of his own fate but he is responsible for the way he reacts to his downfall. “They are your own blood: you will not let them fall into beggary and loneliness; you will keep them from the miseries that are mine!”(Sophocles 1449) Through expressing Oedipus’ unending love for his daughters, this statement evokes the innocent passion of his emotions and the longing for his daughters to break the chains of their father’s entrapment.
I longed for a feeling of catharses when ending Oedipus Rex, but his final invocation to his daughters left me with a sense of loneliness. I understood that Oedipus’ tone of regretful remorse intended to do more than simply instruct his daughters what not to do in life. I felt empty.
But then it hit me! Catharses entered my soul as I read the poetic melody of, “live as you can, be happy as you can,”(1457) which filled my heart with inspiration. I flipped back through the pages and asked myself, how? How can the words of such a distant character as Oedipus dive into such raw emotion? I’m still trying to figure this out, and it will take more than and second reading of this play to discover the emotions of Oedipus. I have a feeling it will require some sort of experience where I will have to live through a difficult decision or recover from an emotional or physical injury. It will probably not be as excruciating as Oedipus’ realization of fate, but I think artistic emotion comes from real life experiences. Similar to method acting, artistic passion develops from the ability to relate. There are going to be days when I feel like I have no control over my future, but I will look back at the words of Oedipus and remember the inspiration they gave me.
Picture from: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LX/OedipusKing.html
Thomas!
ReplyDeleteYour entire prospect of art and the artist is enthralling. I loved your example in the first blog post of the picture by the student with down syndrome. That, I believe, is art in its purest form. I also find it interesting how you defined Oedipus as an artist, because of the raw emotion and passion he revealed in the midst of his awful fate. I had never thought of it that way. But, I agree completely that true art, and being an artist has everything to do with the passion behind the expression.
Thomas,
ReplyDeleteI loved your beginning about the dead end road. I also agree with Emma about defining Oedipus as an artist; that's a interesting way of looking at him. And I also drew inspiration from Oedipus in the way that he remained brave although fate had destroyed him. Great post!