THE ENLIGHTENED STATESMANSHIP OF THESEUS
Yet, even if we grant that Oedipus's anger is unreasonable, we might still wonder, is it not also a source of towering strength? Does it not inspire Oedipus to forge ahead and struggle on, notwithstanding his seemingly hopeless condition at the beginning of the play? Moreover, the play does have a happy ending for Oedipus.
Even if he is not clearly rewarded by the gods, he is certainly protected and honored by the Athenians. Is it not Oedipus's spiritedness, his tremendous capacity for indignation, his refusal to accept his plight, and his confidence in his righteousness, as well as his arguments, that account for his amazing success in winning over the Athenians and thwarting the Thebans? Might not the play suggest that, insofar as Oedipus's spiritedness enables this helpless blind man to gain allies, triumph over his enemies, and win lasting honor, it is, if not reasonable, a source of great strength, beneficial to him, and therefore admirable?[62]But, while Oedipus's perseverance in the midst of terrible hardships is indeed admirable, the play presents sharp criticisms of his spiritedness for causing, in large measure, those very hardships. As Creon declares, “you indulged your anger, which always ruins you” (855; see also 592, 1175—80). And in a surprising echo of Creon's charge, Antigone denounces her father's spirited refusal to meet with his son: “You begot him. Therefore, even if he has performed actions of the most evil, impious sort, it is not righteous for you, father, to perform evil actions against that one. But as for him, others have evil offspring and a sharp spiritedness, but, once they are advised by the charms of loved ones, their nature is charmed. Look away from these woes and toward those of your father and mother that you have suffered. And should you gaze on those woes, I know that you will recognize how evil comes to be the end of an evil spiritedness.
For you do not have slight grounds for reflection, bereft as you are of your eyes, unseeing” (1189—1200). It was, Antigone gently reminds her father, his “evil spiritedness” that led him to kill Laius and to drive Jocasta to her death.27 It was, as Oedipus himself admits, his rage that led him to blind himself, and thereby doomed him to the helpless condition we find him in at the beginning of the play (431—44, 765—71). It was his anger that doomed his daughters to be his nurses, rather than to be cared for by him.28Furthermore, it is not sufficient to say that Oedipus's spiritedness leads to the happy outcome of Oedipus at Colonus. For a crucial role in
intensity of his conviction, and perhaps our own amazement that a man so evidently beaten by life can still maintain such ferocity, pushes us on an emotional, rather than an intellectual, level to accept his claims of heroic stature” (1997, 153).
27 Given Sophocles’ portrayal of her loving but critical stance toward her father, I cannot agree with those scholars who claim that Sophocles “presents an Antigone who consistently manifests an ‘Electra complex’ of the classic Freudian type, in that she remains trapped in a fixation on her father” and exhibits an “extreme attachment” to him (Griffith 2005, 94, 100; see also Johnson 1997).
28 See Winnington-Ingram 1980, 259—60. Reinhardt notes that here “Sophocles finally moves away from his hero” (1979, 216). Consider as well Wilson 1997, 166, 176.
that outcome is played by Theseus, who grants Oedipus and his daughters sanctuary, defends them against Creon, and bestows the Athenians’ honor on him. But Theseus too is a critic of Oedipus's spiritedness. When Oedipus decries his sons for trying to force him to return to Thebes, Theseus responds, “Fool! Spiritedness is not advantageous among evils” (592). Theseus criticizes Oedipus specifically here for quarreling unnecessarily with his sons even though he desperately needs their help.
More broadly, Theseus suggests that, inasmuch as the human condition is one that is always beset by evils, it is always foolish to indulge in such anger (592, 598, consider 658-60).Theseus is himself remarkably free of anger.[63] For example, Theseus stresses in his opening remarks to Oedipus that he too has suffered the dangers and hardships of the life of an exile (562—6; see Homer Iliad 1.260—8; Plutarch, Theseus 4—20). Yet, unlike Oedipus, Theseus expresses no anger whatsoever regarding his sufferings, but rather stresses the unavoidable character of such suffering and even how he profited from it by receiving an “education.” Furthermore, Theseus never expresses the moral indignation over Oedipus’s patricide and incest that the chorus initially feels and that Creon expects him to feel (compare 551—68 with 220—36, 254—7, 510—46, 939—50).[64] Even without hearing Oedipus’s argument, he evidently accepts that those crimes were involuntary.[65] But Theseus also never expresses anger at Creon and Oedipus’s sons, in contrast with Oedipus himself, as well as with the chorus (461—2, 1211—48, 1346—7, 1397—8, 1448—55). This is especially clear in Theseus’s confrontation with Creon. Creon enters Athens with Theban soldiers, violently seizes Oedipus and his daughters, even though they have been granted refuge by the Athenian king, and brazenly insults the Athenians. The Athenian elders are understandably outraged (831, 842). Theseus would seem to have every reason to be angry with Creon in the name of Athenian patriotism, as is the chorus. When Theseus appears on the scene, he remarks to the chorus that he would treat Creon harshly, if he were angry. “As for this one [Creon], if I dealt with him with the anger he deserves, I would not let him go unwounded by my hand” (904—6). Yet when Theseus turns to confront Creon directly, he criticizes him most em- phatically—in the name of Thebes! “Yet Thebes did not educate you to be evil.
For they do not love to rear men who are outside of justice, but they would not praise you, if they learned that you plunder my things and the things of the gods, bringing away violently miserable mortals, suppliants.... But you bring shame on a city that does not deserve it, on your own city” (919—23, 928—30). Theseus grasps that, however insulting Creon is toward Athens, he is a Theban patriot, a man devoted to his city and desperately trying to protect it from harm (387—409, 755—60, 784—6, 848—52). Consequently, Theseus appeals to Creon's Theban patriotism to persuade Creon and to shame him.[66] And Theseus is at least somewhat effective, inasmuch as Creon seems less angry and self-confident after Theseus has spoken (consider 939—59, 1018, 1036, but also 1037).The causes of Theseus's freedom from spiritedness are his understanding that humans are naturally self-interested and his capacity to view the world from the perspective of the self-interest of others. For example, whereas Antigone condemns Oedipus's spiritedness as harmful to others, Theseus stresses that it is harmful to Oedipus himself (compare 1189—1203 with 589—92). Similarly, while Oedipus denounces Creon's actions as harmful and insulting to him and the chorus denounces them as harmful and insulting to Athens, Theseus denounces them as harmful and insulting to Creon's own beloved city of Thebes. Theseus does not expect Creon to put Athens first, as the chorus expects Creon to put Athens first and as Oedipus expects Creon and Thebes, as well as his own sons and daughters, to put his interests first. Theseus expects human beings to be self-interested, accepts that they are necessarily so, and therefore does not blame them for being so. Instead he tries to understand what their interests might be in order to appeal to them.
Indeed, in his sympathetic understanding of other humans, in his capacity to place himself in the position of others and to view the world from their viewpoint, Theseus reminds us of no one more than the poet Sophocles himself, who must see the world through his characters’ eyes in order to give them voice and bring them to life.[67] Theseus’s understanding and acceptance of the compelling power of self-love highlight his fundamentally rational outlook.
In contrast to the spirited Oedipus, Theseus never claims to be less self-interested than, and hence morally superior to, others. He never claims to deserve any rewards from the gods, much less the reward of everlasting well-being. Accordingly, however respectful Theseus may be of the piety of his subjects, he never evinces a pious hope for immortality. Just as Theseus is free of Oedipus’s anger at the self-interested nature of human beings, so is he free of Oedipus’s anger at our mortal nature.The question naturally arises, what might Theseus’s own selfinterest be? On the surface, the Athenian king’s offer of refuge and protection to Oedipus against Thebes would seem to be a simply noble, compassionate, and selfless act.[68] For the Athens we see in this play is, compared with its neighbors, a political and military midget. The play takes place at the dawn of Athenian history, when Theseus united such villages as Colonus into the city of Athens and established himself as king (see Jebb 1955, 77; Thucydides 2.15; Plutarch Theseus 24—5). Athens is of so little consequence at this time that Oedipus, who grew up in the royal household of Corinth and ruled over Thebes for some fifteen years, does not even know whether neighboring Athens is ruled by a king, and has never even heard of Theseus (66—9; see 947—9).
Athens is so weak militarily that when Polyneices is ousted by his brother from his throne and seeks aid in his plan to return to Thebes at the head of an army, he goes to far-off Argos rather than nearby Athens and does not even bother to invite Athens to join him (371—81). The most vivid sign of Athens' political and military weakness in the play is the contempt with which Creon treats the Athenians. He repeatedly expresses scorn for their city, as the chorus laments (835—43, 857—63, 877—83; see 897—903). He seizes Ismene, Antigone, and Oedipus without any fear of retaliation by Theseus and his subjects (813—9). Moreover, when Theseus arrives and bloodlessly rescues Oedipus and his daughters from Creon's men, the chorus speaks of this seemingly minor police action as a glorious military victory (see 1044—73).
Athens here is militarily dwarfed by Argos, and especially Thebes. Theseus's defiance of Thebes would thus seem to be risky. When Creon threatens retaliation, his threat must be taken seriously (837, 1037). Accordingly, it seems fitting that Oedipus bless Theseus for standing up to Thebes: “May you have profit, Theseus, in thanks for your nobility and your just forethought for us” (1042—3).Yet Theseus's willingness to defend Oedipus is not as imprudent as it first appears. Thebes does not retaliate against Athens because it is devastated first by the war between Oedipus's two sons and then by the strife between Creon and Antigone. Furthermore, Theseus evidently knows that there is tension between Oedipus and his sons (588) and strife between Polyneices and Eteocles, even before Oedipus arrives. Theseus does not, for example, ever ask Oedipus why Polyneices is dressed in Argive garb. Theseus also presumably knows that there is a vast Argive army, headed for Thebes, camped outside his city (1301—25). So he may surmise that, given such strife, Thebes will not punish Athens for protecting Oedipus. Moreover, by protecting Oedipus and his daughters against his sons and Creon, Theseus encourages division within the Theban royal family at a time when Thebes is threatened by foreign invasion. And by agreeing to let Antigone and Ismene return to Thebes at the end of the play, Theseus sets the stage for the further, and foreseeable, struggle within Thebes that we witness in the Antigone. Theseus's treatment of Oedipus and his family serves Athens' interest by fomenting strife within Thebes and thereby weakening Athens' powerful neighbor.
But most importantly, Theseus benefits himself and his city by winning the protection of the gods in return for granting Oedipus sanctuary (Grene 1967, 161-3). Oedipus repeatedly promises the Athenians that they will profit from his presence in their city (68—72, 285-8, 448-60, 576-82, 607-28, 1518-55, 1586-1667). More specifically, Oedipus promises that, if Theseus gives him refuge, protection, and burial, then, when the Thebans attack Athens in the future, “At that time, my cold corpse, sleeping and covered, will drink their warm blood, if Zeus is still Zeus and Zeus's son Phoebus is sure” (621-3). Oedipus goes on to claim that he will defend Athens against Thebes for the rest of time as one empowered by Zeus and Apollo to become a protective deity, as long as he is honored by the Athenians (1518-55).
The chorus of Athenian elders is deeply impressed by this claim. For these elders are emphatically pious. They praise their city as one blessed by the gods and pray to the gods to continue to favor and protect it.[69] Even though Athens is a young, militarily and politically weak city in this play, it is already renowned as a superlatively pious city. Oedipus invokes this reputation when he appeals for refuge from the Athenians: “What is the benefit of renown or noble reputation if it flows in vain? They say that Athens is the most god-revering, that she alone is able to save the stranger who has suffered evil, and that she alone is able to defend him. Where are these things for me?” (258-63). The reputation of Athens for a pious hospitality toward suppliants explains not only why Oedipus and Antigone have sought refuge there, but also why Ismene, Creon, and Polyneices all assume that Oedipus is to be found in Athens.
Oedipus's promise that his presence will confer divine protection on Athens plays a decisive role in overcoming the chorus's initial hostility to him. Even though they initially demand that Oedipus leave their land after learning his identity, after he claims that through him the gods will protect Athens, the elders respond: “You are deserving of pity, Oedipus, you yourself and these children. And since you add to this argument that you yourself will be the savior of this land, I want to recommend expedient things to you” (461—4). After Oedipus repeats this claim to Theseus, the chorus endorses it (630—1). The chorus evidently hopes that the gods will protect its beloved city, and Oedipus appeals to these pious hopes.
Yet, as we have seen, it is not at all clear that Theseus shares the pious hopes of the Athenian elders. In the first place, he is skeptical when Oedipus claims that he is being summoned to Hades by thunder sent from Zeus. Furthermore, and more importantly, in contrast with the pious Oedipus and the pious chorus, Theseus is free of righteous indignation at the self-interestedness of others and free of the pious hopes that accompany such indignation. Finally, Theseus stands out within the galaxy of Sophoclean kings and tyrants in the Theban plays as a statesman whose rule is independent of religious authority and based on his wits alone. King Laius and Queen Jocasta are so deferential to soothsayers and oracles that they agree to kill their only child and remain childless {Oedipus the Tyrant 711—22, 1173—6). Creon, Polyneices, and Eteocles repeatedly consult and heed those who claim to speak for the gods (555—7, 1422—31, 1438—45, 1515—20; Antigone 991—5; Oedipus at Colonus 385—420, 1291—1300). And, notwithstanding his own apparent rationalism as ruler, Oedipus himself piously consults the oracle and soothsayer of Apollo at moments of crisis (Oedipus the Tyrant, 68—77, 284—9, 787—97). But, in contrast to all of those rulers, Theseus is never said to consult either oracles or soothsayers. Indeed, there is no one in Athens whom Theseus permits to wield the independent authority that Teiresias evidently wields in Thebes under the reigns of Laius, Oedipus, Polyneices, Eteocles, and Creon. And in contrast to the reigns of all of those rulers, each of whom suffers a disastrous fate, Theseus's rule is an unqualified success. We see him at the end of this play beloved by his subjects, blessed by Oedipus and his daughters, and victorious over his adversaries. Theseus is a statesman guided by compassion and reason, not spiritedness or piety. Through his example — the only example in the Theban plays of a successful statesman — Sophocles teaches the superiority of political rationalism over religious politics.[70]
Yet Theseus is not an enemy of piety, as is the Oedipus of Oedipus the Tyrant at times (390—8, 946—85) and as Creon in the Antigone momentarily becomes (1033—59). Theseus publicly prays to Poseidon and is publicly respectful of the piety of Oedipus and the chorus (Oedipus at Colonus 887—9, 1179—80, 1209—10, 1760—7). Although Theseus himself does not rely on the gods for assistance, he understands the importance of pious hopes for his people and pious fears for his enemies. Accordingly, he understands that, even if it is not true that protecting Oedipus can gain for Athens divine protection, protecting him can benefit Athens by enhancing her reputation for piety. Oedipus certainly does enhance that reputation. After Theseus saves him, Oedipus declares to Creon: “It escapes your notice that if some land knows how to revere gods with honors, this one excels in this” (1005—7). And after his daughters are rescued, Oedipus exclaims to Theseus and the Athenian elders: “For no one else of mortals, but you [singular], saved them. And may gods grant to you what I wish, to yourself and this land. Since I have found piety only among you [plural] of human beings as well as decency and honesty” (1123—7). Oedipus bolsters the beliefs of the Athenians in the sanctity of their city. He strengthens the pious confidence of the Athenians that their young city is not simply left by an indifferent world to fend for itself but is rather blessed by gods who will protect it. In this way, Oedipus truly benefits the Athenians. As Theseus evidently recognizes, such a pious patriotism, such a belief that one's nation is under God and favored by providence, is salutary and beneficial to any political community, even if that belief is not simply reasonable.[71]
Theseus's political rationalism is a mean between the anti-rationalist and wrathful piety exemplified by Oedipus at Colonus and the arrogant political rationalism of Oedipus the Tyrant. Theseus's rationalism is politic, cautious, and moderate, mindful of the power and utility of religion and therefore respectful of the religious passions and hopes of his subjects. Theseus bears witness to the possibility of a genuinely enlightened statesmanship, one that faces and accepts both human mortality and human piety.38