In Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex,
Jocasta makes a number of assertions about prophecies. At one point, for instance, she
says that “no human being has skill in prophecy” (852), and she offers as evidence the
fact that her former husband Laius was told that he
was fated to be killed
by a child
conceived by him and me.
(857-58)
She regards this
prophecy as false and uses its supposed falsity as a reason for denying the truth of
prophecies more generally.
Later, after Oedipus slowly
realizes the truth of this very prophecy, the chorus shows its faith in prophecies in
general and regrets that they are not taken more
seriously:
For
ancient oracles which dealt with Laius
are withering—men now set them
aside.
Nowhere is Apollo honoured publicly,
and our religious faith
is dying
away. (1074-77)
Jocasta
then re-enters the stage and criticizes Oedipus for listening to “whoever speaks to him
of dreadful things” (1087). At this point, then, she still seems skeptical pf prophets
and oracles. Later, of course, she agonizingly realizes the truth of the prophecy about
Oedipus, and she kills herself after realizing that she has unintentionally married her
own son (1477).
The chorus, of course, took prophecies and
oracles seriously from early in the play, as when the Chorus Leader, advising Oedipus on
how to discover the murderer of Laius, says
As for what you’re seeking, it’s for
Apollo,
who launched this search, to state who did it.
(326-27)
In fact, it is the
Chorus Leader who first suggests that Oedipus should consult the prophet Tiresias
(333-34). Thus, by the end of the play, the faith of the chorus in prophecies and
oracles in general, and in Tiresias in particular, is shown to be sensible, while
Jocasta’s doubts are revealed to be merely wishful thinking, however plausible they may
have seemed at first.
(Ian Johnston translation; see link
below)
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