about Clytemnestra’s death

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Recommended: character of gods in Oedipus rex by sophocles

The Oracle and its many representations play huge parts in most, if not all of Greek tragedy. Most commonly, they are simply diviners, messengers whom the gods (usually Zeus or Apollo) commanded with sacred or valuable information to share with the mortal race. In Sophocles’ tragedies, however, the role of the Oracle, henceforth used to describe any source of divine information, evolved to take many different forms. As such, its study through Electra (~405) and Women of Trachis (~425 BC) provides especially fascinating insights, since the two plays were written during and after the Peloponnesian War. The comparison of the Oracle in the two plays can open a window into their author’s development and change of beliefs through the war.
The gods share their secrets with humanity through many outlets, not limited to the famous Oracle of Delphi or the elusive, esteemed Oracle in the tall mountains of Dodona. In the Theban plays, a blind prophet carries the part of divine knowledge. In a play as late as Electra, however, the Oracle is slightly more elusive, manifesting itself through the actions of ordinary mortals. In Women of Trachis, on the other hand, it is physically represented by the Oracle at Dodona and Nessus the centaur. Intriguingly, their representations are perfectly reversed, when we look at how they change the plots. In Electra, the Oracle catalyses the events rather blatantly by informing Orestes that he will murder his mother; in Women of Trachis, the both oracles actively mislead Deianira and Heracles. This evolution that Sophocles underwent in how he dramatizes the divine can become a fascinating tool, with which we can dig deeper into his personal metamorphosis during the Peloponnesian War.
In Electra, Orestes menti...

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...he Oracles in Women of Trachis is almost an entity of its own, manipulating the characters with a distinct purpose. As a commentary on the gods, evolving throughout the author’s lifetime, it is evident that Sophocles thought of the gods as a more concrete force in his youth; towards his later days, he thought them an excuse, a mortal voice in the head. Doubtlessly, the Peloponnesian war had much to do with this change of heart. In fact, through reading various wartime authors in many historical periods, we can detect the same loss of faith in a higher power, with some even calling the gods an excuse for bloodshed. By analysing Sophocles’ message to Athens through the oracle in his tragedies, we observe that he too arrived at the same conclusion; that humanity does what it sees fit and creates a divine excuse behind it, believable to the point of self-deception.

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