The wide, unending sea captured classical imaginations: from the heroic undertakings of Jason and the Argonauts to the voyages of Odysseus. In each of those instances, the sea was personified by the powerful god Poseidon , who more often than not directly interfered in the journey of the heroes. However, Sophocles develops the relationship between the sea and Oedipus on a metaphorical rather than literal and supernatural level. Oedipus Rex takes place entirely over land, and yet the image of the sea often appears in unexpected locations as a symbol of darkness, of destiny, or even of the unholy coupling of Jocasta and Oedipus. In this regard, Sophocles’ distinct lack of godly interference in Oedipus stands in stark contrast to the earlier and supernatural epics of Homer and Hesiod. As noticed by Bernard Knox in his introduction to the play, “there is not one supernatural event in it, no gods, no monsters…. it is the most relentlessly secular of the Sophoclean tragedies” (Knox 134). Yet Sophocles does not present a worldview in which humans rule supreme over their respective destinies; instead, the role of the gods as fatal arbiters has been supplanted by a formless, general sense of inevitability itself, represented as a series of evolving nautical metaphors that eventually signal Oedipus’ subjugation to fate.

The opening strains, called out by the priests, set the scene of a Thebes beset with plague. “Our ship pitches wildly…” the priest laments; “[Thebes] cannot lift her head / from the depths” (29-30). Here, Sophocles connects the fate of the denizens of Thebes to a metaphorical ship caught in a storm, buffeted by some powerful force. Besides starkly depicting the turmoil and impact of plague on the city, the Thebes-as-ship metaphor further hints at Oedipus as the responsible figure, seeing as the captain of every ship is responsible for its crew and passengers. Indeed, as the priest in his panic prostrates before Oedipus for guidance—analogous to a chief officer before a captain—his panic prevents him from even forming complete thoughts. Instead, the desperate pleas tumble out of the priest’s mouth like waves. The disjointed nature of the speech mimics how Thebes-as-ship is lurching to and fro, tumbling over “the red waves of death” without an end in sight (30). “Red waves” in this instance can refer to the immediate sickness afflicting the city. But Sophocles a few lines later invokes the “fiery god of fever… in all its vengeance” as a cause of the blight, connecting the color of the waves, of the flaming god, and of fever (34-6). The repeated use of the color red and invocations of fever, war, and anger immediately associate this “fiery god” with Ares, a connection well-known to audiences at the time (Atsma). However, the grotesque imagery conjured by the priest contrasts with his purposeful omission of Ares’ name, seemingly abstracting the personification of the god into a formless figure of vengeance. In light of this usage of color and abstraction, it seems that the “red waves” upon which the Thebes-as-ship bobs has been conflated with the anger of the gods, thus extending the usage of the sea from the literal to the metaphoric.

The natural consequence of this association is that the sea itself stands as a representation of Oedipus’ dark fate, more so than any physical, deified representation could serve. By this point in the play, the audience has become painfully aware that Oedipus, in attempting to “steer” his investigation in the correct direction has unknowingly cursed himself to live with the knowledge of his crime. This was earlier corroborated by the chorus, as they called upon Oedipus as the “good helmsman, steer[ing] us through the storm!” (675-6). The implication of this is clear: a good captain should always maintain control of his ship, regardless of the conditions. By extension the contrary is true as well as well, and a poor captain will be one who is unable to successfully pilot the ship even in the direst of straits. As noted by Aristotle in his Poetics, it is this crucial fact that plays part into the “complex plot-structure” of Oedipus (Poetics 42). Oedipus thus becomes victim to his own tragic flaw (hamartia) of believing he is able to command the ship of Thebes with complete control over the red waves. “Look at us, passengers in the grip of fear, / watching the pilot of the vessel go to pieces,” Jocasta intones as Oedipus inches closer to the truth (1010-1). Jocasta’s choice of verbiage, calling Oedipus the “pilot of the vessel” while also reference the citizens of Thebes as “passengers” indicates that Oedipus’ relation to the city of Thebes itself has begun to shift. As Jocasta witnesses Oedipus falling apart, senselessly driving toward what he believes to be the logical conclusion, the audience also realizes that Oedipus has also abdicated his responsibility as king of Thebes, becoming a passenger to his own personal desire to uncover the truth. “I must know it all, / must see the truth at last “ he finally declares to Jocasta (1169-70). This strong declaration and hammered, forceful repeat of “must” signals the final transition from Oedipus as king to Oedipus as passenger: Oedipus does not reign over his own thoughts and desires, but is instead carried by a sense of inevitability that he himself does not control. This inevitability is represented by the sea itself.

This final transition between the relationship between Oedipus as master of the sea and the sea as a controller of Oedipus is brought into focus near the climactic denouement. Following the final reveal of the extent of Oedipus’ sins, Oedipus calls to be “hurl[ed] into the sea / where you can never look on me again” (1545-6). Oedipus, by this point blinded and socially outcast, has no place to turn following his disgrace, brought about by his own actions. He instead seeks refuge in being cast into the sea, begging the citizens to hide him in the surf. This fulfills the earlier calls of the chorus to “blast [the cause of the plague] out to the Sea-queen’s chamber / …death to all / where the Thracian surf comes crashing” (223-5). These two lines, interpreted together with the reading of the sea as a symbol of destiny, shows a final consignment of Oedipus to his fate. Sophocles has already established that Oedipus is no longer “captain”, but at this point Oedipus seeks to enter the ocean itself; Oedipus is to be “hurled” into the ocean, cast off by the citizens of Thebes for his sins. This violent rejection acts as an unraveling of his previous dominating role of captain, as he begs to be drowned and returned into the sea that led him to this unbearable outcome. In addition, because Sophocles portrays Thebes as a ship, Oedipus in his self-imposed exile seeks to throw himself overboard into the waters in a form of suicide, symbolically giving up his free will and instead letting the waves control his future. Whereas previously Oedipus drove his own fate, he now fully accepts the broad, inescapable role of destiny in his reality, even wailing to “let destiny come and take me on its way” (1597). The operating word in his statement is “let”—this keyword represents Oedipus’ final command over anything, including over his previous administrative role as king of Thebes. In the subsequent scene, Oedipus does not even command Creon to bring his children forward, but rather asks for permission whereas previously he would command from his throne (1606). Judging from his behavior and timid choice of words, Oedipus at this point has completely given up his agency and instead lets the currents of destiny carry him forward. In direct contrast to the earlier metaphors of Oedipus as a helmsman and leader for the Thebans, the finality of this statement completes the reversal of Oedipus from man of action to an impotent and blind exile carried forth by the waves and the wind .

Sophocles, by intertwining the nature of the sea into the narrative of the play, has crafted a commentary on the relationship between the gods and humans. Here, he departs from the tradition of the epic poets before him by creating a world that seems not to have a clear ruler, be them the actions of gods or of the infallible heroes of antiquity. Instead, Oedipus must deal with a formless, driving force that influences in subtle ways rather than smiting down criminals with lightning, as the chorus often describes. In this case, Sophocles has in effect created a work nearly devoid of the gods, and the drama of the plot is instead driven by the central character, impelled by his own hubris and subject to the whims of destiny.

Works Cited

“Ares.” Theoi Project, edited by Aaron J. Atsma, Aaron J Atsma, www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html. Accessed 20 Oct. 2017.

Aristotle. The Poetics of Aristotle. Translated by Stephen Halliwell, UNCP, 1987.

Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays. Translated by Robert Fagles, Penguin, 1984