Divinity in Oedipus and Hamlet

Student’s Last Name 1 Student’s Name Professor’s Name Subject Date Why Human Beings Look to a Higher Power Even the most powerful human beings are limited in what they can do because they do not have sovereign control over time, life, people or nature. The harsh realities of life cause people to seek comfort in deity because it provides hope and relief in oppressive conditions. It is the heart of a heartless world and the soul of a soulless world. Humanity is weak and needs to rely on a supernatural being to provide meaning to life, and solace during difficult times.

Hamlet’s belief in deity therefore gives him peace and assurance that there is a greater force caring for him, and willing to provide for his needs. This paper seeks to examine why human beings look to a higher power and analyses the role of faith and belief in divinity in Hamlet and Oedipus. It discusses the role that divinity serves in both plays. Oedipus the King is the story of King Oedipus’ journey to finding out who he really is, and facing punishment for the sins of his father, and thus fulfilling a prophecy.

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Student’s Last Name 2 The play is set in ancient Greece, where the existence of deities governed almost all aspects of life. The theme of divinity, therefore, is heavy in the entire play. Divinity plays a major role in Oedipus the King and this is shown from the beginning of the play where Thebes is affected by a severe plague and King Oedipus consults a prophet to find out how he can stop it and save the city. The prophet advises him that to save the city, he must find out the truth about King Laios murder. King Oedipus complies, but struggles to believe that prophecies are a credible source of knowledge on the past and the future. He says, “Since come it must, thy duty is to tell me.” (Sophocles, 22). The story of Hamlet occurred towards the end of the middle ages, estimated to be between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, in Elsinore, Denmark. The play was written at a time when religion formed an integral part of society and culture. It is believed to have occurred during the period that Roman Catholics were under attack by Protestants under the leadership of Martin Luther. A majority of Denmark was Catholic at the time, therefore the fighting was intense. To better understand why religion plays a major role in the play, it is essential to understand the circumstances under which it was compiled and why divinity plays a central role in it. Hamlet is the story of a young prince who seeks to find the person who killed his father. He already suspects that King Hamlet, his father, was killed by his uncle Claudius who took over as king almost immediately after the king died. Due to the cultural setting of the play, the theme of divinity is prominent. In ancient Greek, people’s lives were controlled by their faith in the gods, which is shown when Oedipus acknowledges that he needs to consult a prophet to discover how he can help restore Thebes. Jocasta reveals that long before Oedipus was born, it had been revealed to Laius that he would be killed by his own son. Oedipus also fled Corinth to escape the prophecy that he would sleep with his mother.

Student’s Last Name 3 Religion as a Source of Solace, Motivation and Greater Order Human beings look to God for solace, motivation and greater order in their lives. Life is often unpredictable and people need to feel that they have someone greater than them to run to in times of sorrow.is based partly on fear. In both Hamlet and Sophocles, belief in deity is a symptom of fear. Hamlet and Sophocles use religion to seek solace against life’s fears and anxieties. They both encounter extremely challenging situations and they need God’s comfort as they encounter he fear of death, the fear of the unknown, the fear of death and the fear of eternal damnation in hell. Between Hamlet and Oedipus, Hamlet is more religious because almost everything he does is influenced by his religious conscience. Oedipus believes that he can prevent the oracle of the prophecy from coming true, thus, he believes that he can defy the gods and alter the course of his destiny. Hamlet, on the other hand, complies to the will of the gods, and seeks their intervention at every challenging stage of his life. Hamlet tells his friend that he believes that there is a supreme being who directs people’s lives. He is eager to tell Horatio the story of his journey so far and says that excitement and spontaneity can easily turn to recklessness sometimes but it comforts him to know that there is a caring deity who watches over him and mercifully directs him in the path he should take. He believes that he is powerless before God, and thus says, "Lord! we know what we are, but know not what we may be." (Shakespeare, 62) When he cleverly unearths evidence that Claudius had murdered his father, he credits this revelation to God. He says that it is God who provided the wisdom to enable him come up with a plan that would help him find out if Claudius was guilty of the murder. The belief in God saves Hamlet from worrying about his life because he knows that everything that happens is preordained by God. He credit everything to God, both good and bad, and believes that even when the circumstance indicate otherwise, the Divine has a plan

Student’s Last Name 4 for his life. He says that when he was in deep despair and confusion, God intervened and helped to turn his failure into success. This realization strengthens his resolve to relying on God’s guidance instead of relying on his own efforts. Belief in the Divine is a nearly universal feature of humanity. When Hamlet says that God shapes our ends, he says that by himself, he cannot achieve a lot, it is the Supreme Being who shapes one’s life, “There's a divinity that shapes our ends,Rough-hew them how we will” (Shakespeare 68). Hamlet also believes in Divine Providence; the means through which God directs people to their destiny. According to him, Divine Guidance is assured to man if he follows the will of God. When Hamlet was confused about the situation surrounding his father’s murder, he felt that he had exhausted all his ideas on how to unearth the murderer but the Higher Power provided clarity and wisdom that enabled him to take proper action.

What Purpose Does Divinity Serve Human beings often encounter a dilemma in ascertaining who or what controls their lives. Some people claim that everything happens by chance, while others believe that one’s entire life is predetermined by a Higher Power. Divinity is the source of our destiny. God knows one’s life from beginning to end and there is nothing one can do to escape their fate. In both Hamlet and Oedipus the King, the protagonists surrender their fate to the gods when they realize that they are mere mortals while he is the Supreme Being who controls everything. .

As is shown in the play, the gods controlled people’s actions and fates, and challenging them would lead to one’s downfall. This is evident in the phrase; “Pride breeds the tyrant violent pride, gorging, crammed to bursting with all that is overripe and rich with ruin—clawing up to the heights, headlong pride crashes down the abyss—sheer doom!” (Sophocles, 13). From the time he was a child, King Oedipus’ life was predetermined by a higher power, as a result,

Student’s Last Name 5 there is nothing that he could do to escape his fate. At the very beginning of the play, there is a conversation between Oedipus and a priest who implores him to return Thebes to its former glory. The conversation alludes to several spiritual concepts and therefore illustrates that there is a strong belief in the power of the gods. Oedipus aspires to be a great leader and continues to strive towards it, but his destiny is doomed due to the actions of his late father. He does not deserve the destiny that he faces but the Greek gods would punish entire families of people who committed a transgression. Therefore, despite trying hard to escape the fate handed to him, he must suffer the wrath of the gods due to the sins of his father Laius. God is caring and kind, but also punishes people for the sins they commit. In Oedipus, Sophocles reveals the other side of the gods; they were so ruthless in punishing people’s transgressions that entire families would suffer for the sins of an individual. To illustrate this, the prophet says, “The wretch who murdered Laius--that man is here. He passes for an alien in the land but soon shall prove a Theban, native born. And yet his fortune brings him little joy.” (Sophocles, 32).

King Oedipus struggles to believe Teiresia’s prophecy but continues to seek evidence if what he was told was true because as much as it did not sound believable, he respected the prophet’s word. Apollo was one of the gods worshipped by the Greeks. He was the god of justice, and when prayed to about the dire situation in Thebes, he stated that the plague would end only when the man who was guilty of murder was removed from Thebes. Apollo had declared that Oedipus would be his father’s murderer. Jocasta says about this prophecy “The child should be his father's murderer, Or the dread terror find accomplishment, And Laius be slain by his own son. Such was the prophet's horoscope. O king, Regard it not. Whate'er the god deems fit. To search, himself unaided will reveal” (Sophocles, 64). In the play, the gods appear to be villainous, punishing the entire city due to the sins of a few individuals, and

Student’s Last Name 6 demanding that the guilty persons be punished for their sins for normalcy to be restored. This is illustrated by the phrase; “He was a mighty king, he was the envy of everyone who say how lucky he'd been. Now he's struck a wave of terrible ruin. While you're alive, you must keep looking to your final day, and don't be happy till you pass life's boundary without suffering grief." (Sophocles, 37). Thebes therefore suffered because the gods allowed it. Reverence for authority is also shown when the king implores Oedipus to help Thebans and says that he was able to lift up the people’s lives because god was with him, and later also said that there was a god in him. Due to the severity and impact of the plague in their lives , the people of Thebes have turned to Oedipus for help because they now consider him to be a hero, and the gods to be villains for allowing calamity to occur. They think Oedipus can do something to save them.

Oedipus is afraid to hear the prophecy and thinks that he is safe as long as he does not know it. However, he learns that the power of the gods is invincible and his fate lies solely in their hands. Sin causes hardship, as is shown in the play when Thebes encounters hardship because it is contaminated with Oedipus’ sins. He murdered his father and is unknowingly in a relationship with his mother. In Hamlet, Hamlet becomes troubled and sorrowful after the visit from his father’s ghost because it now means that his father has given him the responsibility of avenging his death. He has several doubts about whether what he is doing is right, and consequently he becomes depressed and anxious. Hamlet questions the meaning of life severally; he seems hesitant to carry out the revenge mission on his uncle. Firstly, although Hamlet feels confident that the spirit of his father protects him, he is not sure whether the ghost was a devil that wanted to mislead him. Secondly, he feels the weight of the obligation to commit a sin, and the consequences that will come from it. This scene shows that Hamlet believed that there was Good and Evil, and that the Good was God, and the Evil

Student’s Last Name 7 was the Devil and his demons. God punishes King Hamlet for his sins on earth by sending him to purgatory after his death where he has to stay until he pays for them fully. Hamlet might be afraid of suffering the same fate. In summary, God plays different roles in people’s lives. He is caring and giving, yet also allows suffering when people abuse the free will given to them. In both Hamlet and Oedipus the King, the protagonists turned to the gods for help in their time of suffering. We often need protection, direction and comfort in times of despair.

Despite a man’s status in society, human beings are vulnerable and therefore turn to religion for help in times of need. The Supreme Being is the author of one’s life, and it is not possible to escape from his power, or to alter one’s fate. In both plays, one’s transgressions can be forgiven when they atone for their sins and follow the Divine’s will for their lives.

Student’s Last Name 8 Works Cited Shakespeare. Hamlet. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Floating Press. 2008. Print Sophocles. Oedipus The King.Simon & Schuster, 2012. Print.

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