pervasive as Thebes is being destroyed by famine and pestilence that the gods have declared is a consequence of the murderer of Laius, Oedipus’ s natural father, being at large in the city. Ultimately Creon, Jocasta’ s brother and Oedipus’ s uncle / brother, takes up the reins of power. He is also to be prominent in the next two plays in the trilogy.
Oedipus, the unwitting plaything of the god Apollo, god of the sun and of music, has realised his tragic destiny. At the end of the play, he implies that this destiny is to be vital, sacred and prophetic. He thus bids farewell to his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, and wanders back into the wilderness outside the city gates, the place where he originated from.
Of course incest was common among the ruling families of the ancient world, the practice whereby a ruling family could cling onto its monopoly of power. But this led to certain fatal consequences, the thinning of the gene pool and eventual genetic deformities such as mental illness being common. To counteract this, aristocratic families eventually were forced to share power by inviting outsiders and commoners to enter into marriage contracts with their members. Sophocles’ play is both dangerous and relevant because these archaic practices are still tried and tested methods whereby a dominant group retains its dominance through these shady practices and nefarious deeds. However, he details the consequences of such interference with our nature and his play becomes a palpable political and legal tract as well as a stunning drama. Wayne Jordan’ s version of Oedipus by Sophocles is a text and performance based re-working of an original. It is hardly a visual feast but it is a lyrical one.