Oedipus and Job

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the suffering of the blameless in two different ancient contexts--the tragedy of King Oedipus from the ancient Greek play "Oedipus the King" and the wisdom of Job from the Biblical "Book of Job". The paper presents a brief synopsis of the Greek play, focusing on the issue of the protagonist fulfilling his tragic destiny. The paper compares this to Job's predicament, highlighting the difference that Job's suffering, unlike Oedipus', is instructive rather than horrifying.

From the Paper:

"Both the ancient Greek play "Oedipus the King," and the Hebraic "Book of Job" portray heroes who suffer unjustly. Both Oedipus and Job are forced to endure punishments of a horrific nature far exceeding any crimes they have committed. But while the suffering of Oedipus is meant to show the capricious and arbitrary nature of the gods and thus the irredeemable harshness of human fate, the book of Job highlights the ability of suffering to teach the believer about the awesome and incomprehensible nature of divine majesty. Oedipus' suffering evokes pity and fear in the hearts of the viewers, but his suffering does not instruct him, other than the fact that the gods are cruel. In contrast, the way in which Job bears his suffering is morally instructive to the book's readers. Job illustrates the proper way for an afflicted man or woman view and approach his or her own difficulties, as experienced in the world."

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