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After taking a step back and looking at the Oedipus trilogy on a grander scale, something that stuck out to me was the abundance of suicides that take place. To clarify, we see Jocasta start the habit by hanging herself. Oedipus shortly thereafter performs an act of self-mutilation, which would escalate to his suicide (I argue that his going into the forest in the second play is a willingness to accept his own death and is suicide). Polynice was perfectly aware of his father's curse and went to his own death. Eurydice and Haemon both stab themselves at the close of Antigone.

Now, I found it odd that suicide was so prevalent in this play so I researched the Greek view on the act. I found that it was usually looked down upon unless in special circumstances as described by Plato. This next passage comes from the Stanford Encyclopedia:

"However, Plato recognized four exceptions to this principle: (1) when one's mind is morally corrupted and one's character can therefore not be salvaged (Laws IX 854a3-5), (2) when the self-killing is done by judicial order, as in the case of Socrates, (3) when the self-killing is compelled by extreme and unavoidable personal misfortune, and (4) when the self-killing results from shame at having participated in grossly unjust actions."

Now, I think we can see the latter two principles here apply. I think we can all agree that in all of the tragedies and the deaths in the play arise from the initial acts by Oedipus. When viewing the play through the lens of Oedipus having no control over his life and being a victim of fate, I believe that it can be classified as extreme and unavoidable personal misfortune. Thus the self-killing (at least for Oedipus and Jocasta) arises from having participated in grossly unjust actions.

What do people think about the high number of suicides in this trilogy? Do we think that the individuals were justified under Plato's views or possibly something else. Do we view the people committing these acts as less honorable or more honorable? Briefly, I think that the act of suicide is shameful and as a black mark on the characters that committed them. I even feel this away about Oedipus's decision to blind himself. I feel that a more noble and viable decision could have been made by all of the characters charged with self-destruction.

Clarence Darrow is probably one of my favorite orators of all time. He gained his fame during the early twentieth century as a brilliant lawyer who would take on any case. Perhaps on of his most famous courtroom appearances, outside of the Scopes Trial, was the punishment hearing of Leopold and Loeb.

    Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were by all accounts brilliant. No one denied this. Everyday of their lives, this fact was reinforced by the countless people who doted on them because of their staggering intellectual capacities. So much was this the case, that by the time they reached their senior year in college, both men were convinced that they were physical embodiments of the Nietzschean Superman. It was with this in mind that together, they planned and executed the perfect murder. Everything went like clockwork until they were forced to speak against each other during interrogation.

    Where am I going with this?

    During closing arguments of their punishment hearing, Darrow gave one of the most widely analyzed closing remarks in American juridical history. He argued that although Leopold and Loeb clearly committed the murderous act, they could not be held responsible for their actions. Darrow argued that Man is like a machine... he is assembled with a certain parts that dictate how the machine works. In this sense, because of their brilliance, the environment they were brought up in, and the expectations that were placed on them by society, Leopold and Loeb were destined to commit the crime that they did. Ultimately, Darrow's argument convinced the judge to spare their lives and instead commit them to a lifetime in prison.

    Several parallels can be drawn from Darrow's argument to our reading and discussions in class. Of particular interest, is the concept of responsibility...  

    If Oedipus was "destined" to take the actions he did due to a divine plan, to what extent can he be held responsible for them at all?  As a result of his being born the son of Laius, Oedipus inherited the burden of killing his father and being intimate with his mother. As Darrow argued on behalf of Leopold and Loeb, even before Oedipus he had any opportunity to act otherwise, he was destined to commit these unthinkable acts. How then, can Oedipus be subject to blame if his actions committed were predetermined by a god?  If anyone is familiar with how this sort of concept is interpreted in contemporary religious texts, I would be most grateful for their input. In particular, could one argue that Judas was responsible for his betrayal of Christ?

    Also, I one can argue that in the absence of a divine plan, Oedipus cannot be held responsible for his crimes because he acted in accordance with the information he had at the time. Darrow argued that because of Man's nature as a machine-like entity, his decisions and actions are based on the parts he is made of (DNA) and the input fed into him (information and environmental factors). Therefore, Man can only be held accountable for actions interpreted through that lens. Darrow argued that Leopold and Loeb were acting as a direct result of how they viewed the world based on their experiences with it. They same can be argued for Oedipus. According to Darrow, were either factors (environmental or biological) different, it can be expected that the result would be different. Oedipus killed his father in the absence of any knowledge about their relationship and it was under similar conditions that he married his mother. How can he be held responsible for his these things if he was acting in accordance with the information he had at that time?

    Finally, in the pursuit of furthering our discussion about the definition of justice, I leave you with a quote from Darrow's summation:
 

" No one with wisdom and with understanding, no one who is honest with himself and with his own life whoever he may be, no one who has seen himself the prey and the sport and the plaything of the infinite forces that move man, no one who has tried and who has failed,--and we have all tried, and we have all failed,--no one can tell what justice is for someone else or for himself--and the more he tries and the more responsibility he takes the more he clings to mercy as being the one thing which he is sure should control his judgment of men."

Clarence Darrow- 1924

In looking over some of the online resources regarding Oedipus, I found a two fun links that I thought I would just post if your interested: