Shabd Sakal Prithvina: A man cannot be said to be happy until he dies

Ajay Singh Chauhan

We are all living in a time where the world is changing every moment. Something that came out two and a half years ago becomes out of date today; Many such examples come before us. Then what is the reason that a work written two and a half thousand years ago is still present today? There are many works in world literature, including India, which are as fresh when read today as they were thousands of years ago. Adikavi Valmiki, Veda Vyasa, Bhavabhuti or Kalidasa are as fascinating today as they were centuries ago. One such creator of world-literature is Sophocles (4th century BC) and his timeless creation 'Oedipus'. The plot of this tragic drama goes something like this: King Laius and Queen Jocashta of Thebes were told by a soothsayer that 'the son born to you will kill his father and marry his mother.' Frightened by such a prophecy, the king orders the child to be killed. Taking pity on the child, Kumla leaves the killer on the Citheran mountain. A passing porter sees the child and hands him over to King Polybus of Corinth. The king, being childless, raised the child as his own son. Names 'Oedipus'. Once grown up, Oedipus goes to Delphi (the place of the goddess of prophecy). There it is again called Kalvani. 'You will kill your father and marry your mother.' Oedipus flees from Corinth to escape such a great sin. At a crossroads in a forest he encounters King Laius of Thebes. He kills Laius and his companions in a quarrel over the general issue of giving way to each other. From there we reach the city of Thebes. However, the town is ruled by a monster called the Sphinx. The demon asks Oedipus a question. Pleased with his answer, he frees the city and makes Oedipus king. Becoming a king, he is married to the widow queen Jokashta and has children. This story was well known in Greece at that time. That is why Sophocles begins the play with the end of the story. An epidemic has spread in the city of Thebes. Hundreds of people are dying. The people plead with Oedipus, the king, to save them from the plague. Oedipus sent his brother-in-law Crayon to Delphi to find out the cause of the plague. Bringing news that our king Laius has been slain; This epidemic has spread because his killer has not yet been punished. Finally the hunt for the killer begins. Spoken to the prophet Tiresis. At first he asks to stop the search but then succumbs to Oedipus' insistence and tells the truth. The allusion to the murder goes to Oedipus. Oedipus is enraged but does not stop the quest. the ferryman who delivered the child to Polybus, a survivor of Laius' murder; All are called in turn. Finally it is proved that Oedipus killed his father. When Jokashta comes to know about this, he commits suicide by hanging himself. Oedipus sits by Jocasta's corpse and gouges out both of his eyes with the diamonds from her jewelry. Here comes the tragic end of the play. This play is also a puzzle in the way of psychology. Freud, the greatest psychologist of the twentieth century, named the glands of mother-son attraction in the human mind as 'Oedipus complex' based on the story of Oedipus. Similarly father-daughter attraction is called 'Electra Complex'. Now coming to the question that I posed at the beginning of this article. Why do you like to read this play even after so many centuries? The reason is Sophocles's elaborate depiction of fate for mankind. Despite having committed such a great sin, the reader does not feel hatred towards Oedipus, but rather sympathizes. Because it struggles to escape its destiny. But what was written happened. Even during the search for the murderer, seeing the needle of suspicion pointed towards him could have prevented the search; However, he did not. At last it was discovered that a heinous crime had been committed by his own hands; So he gouges out his eyes. He could have committed suicide like Jokashta, but by doing so he could not be freed from that sin. To bear that pain till life. To bear the pain of unintentional guilt. This is the weakness of man. The play is a constant reminder that in a straight-forward life there is always crushing pain; We cannot escape fate. How did Oedipus, the all-powerful ruler, know that his life would be ruined in a single day! A man cannot be said to be happy until he dies. The last dialogue of the play is, 'Death is the end of all pain.' Playwright Subhash Shah has translated this play into Gujarati. }