In Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses feet as a metaphor for stability. At the opening of the play, we see Oedipus “helping a Priest to his feet” (8). As king, Oedipus has the power to stabilize
people and his nation. The townspeople—represented
by the chorus—look to Oedipus to save their city from the horrible plague that
has fallen on them. Oedipus says, “I
would be blind to misery / not to pity my people kneeling at my feet” (15),
which quite literally represents their desire to be stable like the feet of their
king. The chorus later implores Oedipus:
“Never let us remember of your reign: / you helped us stand, only to fall once
more. / Oh raise up our city, set us on our feet” (61-63). The chorus expects Oedipus to guide them to
their feet, like a father teaching is children how to walk.
That the
chorus expects Oedipus to lift them to their feet is ironic, because Oedipus’
name literally means “swollen feet.” His
feet were bound at birth, and there remains a scar to represent this
constriction. Oedipus seems to be
destined to have loose footing, and he is not a man I would trust to help me to
my feet. Oedipus’ failure may come from
his swollen ego, and the chorus recognizes this in the middle of the play:
“Pride breeds the tyrant / … / No footing helps, all foothold lost and gone”
(963-968).
Hi Spencer! The structure of your argument was interestig since I did not really think along the lines of stability myself. You did provide textual evidence to back your claim. I'm not really sure, however, if the main impetus of Oedipus' failures is his ego. There are many more forces that cause his eventual downfall.
ReplyDeleteYou picked an interesting angle about what feet represent and used good evidence from the text! I never noticed those lines about feet throughout the play so that's really great that you caught that. I liked how you used the chorus lines to show the relationship between Oedipus and the townspeople. It's interesting how you argue that his failure may come from his swollen ego. I agree that could be a part of it, but the prophecy and how he self-fulfilled it is another aspect that must be considered.
ReplyDeleteYou claim that Oedipus' swollen feet are somehow related to a swollen ego, which makes sense since his name (i.e., his "identity" or ego) literally means swollen feet. What I like about your claim is that you don't rehearse the familiar argument that Oedipus has no control over his own fate. What readers typically point out is that Oedipus is "dragged" to his tragic end, but your reading suggests that it is his actions--and his own ego--that also contribute to his downfall. You're already thinking through thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Excellent! Oh, and as a side note--this is a strong piece of writing. I can already see so much improvement in your prose.
ReplyDeleteOh, and one more thing--Oedipus' name also means "phallus." I forget where I read this, but if you can find it then this could lead to interesting discussion tomorrow! It also substantiates your claim that there is a link between Oedipus' swollen feet and his ego (in this case, male ego defined through the phallus).
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your concise writing. You get straight to the point and your thesis is really believable. Reading this before writing my own post makes me think more critically about what I think feet stand for in the play.
ReplyDeletei think that having more evidence from the text in your argument would make it a lot better. I like how you use your own observations, like the definition of Oedipus. I know you have some quotes in there but in general it would have been awesome to see you expand on them more :)
Great job Spencer, I'm jealous of you!
I noticed the same overconfidence in Jocasta, when she dismisses the prophecy and tells Oedipus to "take such things for shadows, nothing at all" and "live... as if there's no tomorrow!" She doesn't end up too well in the end, either... anyway, great point, and definitely refreshing!
ReplyDelete