What are the roles of the gods and the oracles?(Hint: Do they help to present a theme? Develop conflict?ect.) What do they show us about Greek society?
In this play, the gods (and more strongly the oracles) establish the themes of tragedy and free will. The tragic sense in the play is of a hero who pursues something even in the face of immovable forces. Oedipus shows the strength of his character and his commitment to truth by pursuing the truth in this play, which shows his individual free will, but he does so against the merciless fate that has already come to pass and was out of his control. This juxtaposition, of strength and uselessness, is what makes the play a tragedy, and it is all contingent on the presence of the fates.
