November MOR - Oedipus at Colonus

Oedipus has changed. In Oedipus Rex, he was proud and headstrong. Now, Sophocles has shown how age and blindness have humbled him. The opening section is mostly just to establish the setting, that being a holy site outside of Athens. However, this holy site has some interesting divinities attached to it-
"STRANGER Inviolable, untrod; goddesses, Dread brood of Earth and Darkness, here abide. OEDIPUS Tell me the awful name I should invoke?
STRANGER The Gracious Ones, All-seeing, so our folk Call them, but elsewhere other names are rife."
We would know The Gracious Ones as the Furies- spirits of vengeance, who hunt down the wicked at destroy them. The immediate presence of the gods shows that Sophocles is certainly not going to veer from his favorite conflict of man versus divine, but the Furies bring a different spin to this. Previously, the gods have simply given laws or decrees and the conflict has come from mortals trying to ignore or subvert them. The Furies are not a decree to be followed- they are punishment for breaking one. So then, Oedipus has stumbled upon an interesting place. He has apparently also committed a grievous error in treading there, according to the Chorus. Once again, he goes against the divine. However, he immediately moves to try and mitigate the damage. Has Oedipus learned to fully submit to the gods in his old age? Do the Furies symbolize Oedipus' punishment, or something else?

Chorus: "Of happiness the crown and chiefest part is wisdom, and to hold the gods in awe. This is the law that, seeing the stricken heart of pride brought down, we learn when we are old" (162).

This is the closing line of Antigone, and is the part where the Chorus speaking as the audience, says what they have learned. This is the closest thing the play gets to simply saying "The moral of the story is-". It certainly fits with what the play has had happen, but I feel like it was forced. It's a little odd to say something so obvious, and almost detracts from the theme. On the other hand, perhaps it is nice to have it all summed up in a single statement.

Creon is naturally the instrument used to demonstrate this theme that happiness is brought by following the will of the gods, as the play revolves around him fighting it. I just wish there was more representation for Creon's point of view that wasn't obviously going overboard, as Creon wound up playing the part of a strawman for a philosophy Sophocles didn't like.

Antigone

"Antigone: Even so, we have a duty to the dead.

Creon: Not to give equal honor to good and bad" (140).

This quote is where Creon and Antigone fundamentally differ in viewpoints. Both, admittedly, have reason behind them. Do we not owe it to the memory of those lost to respect them? But on the other hand, who deserves to be respected? Do murderers and madmen get the same honor as heroes and saints? Who gets to decide who is worth honoring?

This expansion of this quote is one of the major moral conflicts of Antigone. Does Creon's have the right to decide which dead are worth honoring?

Discussion Quote

In the epilogue, Dostoevsky writes "'Now, what do they find so hideous in my action?' he kept saying to himself. 'That it was an evildoing? What does the word 'evildoing' mean? My conscience is clear."

This quote is quite relevant to the discussions we were having about the survey about how its all about what someone perceives as evil or good. Can we call other people's actions good or bad if they have a differently aligned moral compass? This example is extreme of course, as most would certainly agree that murder is evil. But Rodion is not part of the most, at least at this part of the epilogue. For a different example, if someone breaks the speed limit, they have technically broken the law. Have they done something evil? In this case it's almost not even worth discussing, but where between murder and being in a hurry do we draw the line where people can't just say it was alright with their conscience and move on? When it affects us? When it affects others we know? Can we ever?

My Myers-Briggs test analyzed me as INTP

22% Introverted

79% Intuitive

56% Thinking

33% Perceiving

I think this is pretty accurate, especially where it mentions the dramatic difference between being friendly and talkative with someone I know versus being shy and quiet with people I don't know.

On the other hand, I don't suffer from self doubt as cripplingly as it says, though I certainly experience it. As for when it says that INTPs jump from topic to topic rapidly, I find myself usually trying to make sure I'm understood before I move on.

My favorite affirmation was from my youth leader at church. He's led our group for years and this Sunday was his last at our church, so I was extremely glad to be able to ask him to fill it out. He is one of the people I respect most in life, and to hear what he thinks about my personality and how he appreciated what I brought to the group made my day. He appreciated my wit and how I liked to make the group smile and how I cared about my friends.