Oedipus and his Sin

I love Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex (Tyrannus in Greek). It is the best constructed play I have ever read. It is like an steel trap. It suck you in to where you almost feel sorry for poor Oedipus for everything that he is going through in his life. Even though Sophocles expects us to know the backstory-that Oedipus did kill hsi father and marry his mother-we still feel like he is right to be mad at Tireseias and Creon (well, mayboe more Tireseias than Creon, but still). Then the whole edifice of the play begins to crumble and we are left near the end with the unmistakable conclusion that Oedipus has done everything he is said to have done. He even called down curses upon himself. We are left feeling that life just isn't fair. Poor Oedipus had no choice. He could not have foreseen this, not in a million years. He truly is the tragic hero. His punishment is way more than his pitiful little sin (hubris) deserves. At least that is what Sophocles wants us to be left with. Or does he?
At the point where Oedipus is left with no other conclusion than the inevitable admission of total guilt, he fails the test. He gouges his eyes out and inflicts a self-exile from Thebes. Now we are supposed to say to ourselves, "See how bad he feels about all of this. He can't bear to look at anythign beautiful again and refuses to allow his guilt to afflict the city he loves any longer. What a great guy. He has totally turned around and is no longer prideful." But the exact opposite is true. He has not repented of his sin, he has run from it. He has not dealt with his sin, he has blinded himself to it. He does not leave Thebes for Thebes' sake but for his. He does not blind himself for his children's sake, but for his. Compare Oedipus to two different Old Testament fiugures in slightly similar situations.
Take David. When David was shown his sin by Nathan his reaction was to decalre his own guilt and agree with God's judgment on his sin (2 Sam. 12:13). David does not gouge out his eyes or exile himself from his own people. Listen to the words of David as he contemplates his own sin. "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You." (Psalm 51:12-13)
David longs to be restored to his place of leadership that he might teach and instruct others how to avoid sin. He does not want to run away from sin. He wants to deal with it at its root.
Another interesting comparison deals with the issue of Oedipus' complicity in his own downfall. Students and even authors sometimes argue that there was nothing Oedipus could have done to avoid the situation that happened. Really! Did he have to murder that man on the road to Thebes? Whether he knew it was his father or not, he still acted sinfully. In this way Oedipus walked headlong into the fulfillment of his own prophecy. Compare this to Abraham who also acted foolishly in trying to bring about the promise fo God. When God promised Abraham that he would have great blessing though his decendents, Abraham looked around and said to himself, "I have no children. I'd better help God out of this mess and get some children." So he had a child by Hagar. But God was not naive or misinformed about the situation. He intended Isaac to be the child of promise, not Abraham's substitute for God's blessing. Yet, Abaraham intercedes and procures blessing for Ishmael and submits to God's will in this as well, recognizing and repenting of his actions. Oedipus never really repents of his actions that brought about the fulfillment of prophecy. He blinds himself and exiles himself, rather than face his own penalty for the murder of his father.
It is fascinating to see how pagans deal with sin, even if they know it is sin. They do not deal with is, but set it aside and hope the best will come of a bad situation. It is not to be with us. We should be like David and rejoice in being shown our sin that we might deal with it and mortify it in ourselves.