The Slave Who Knew Everything Oedipus Didn't

The majority of the people of Athens were slaves. They carried out the most menial tasks in society — sewer cleaners, gardeners, domestic servants. People of Sophocles' background did not do manual work; they lived lives of leisure. Even in war, men of that class were generals; slaves fought and died. Sophocles was very conscious of this, and that consciousness gave his worldview its particular tinge of sadness. King Oedipus was written from within a society that depended entirely on the people it refused to treat as human, and the play, quietly, never lets you forget it.

Slaves in ancient Greece occupied the bottom of the social hierarchy, and their presence in the play makes this structure visible. Their interactions with the nobility emphasize the stark differences in power, status, and influence within society. And yet Sophocles gives the slaves the critical knowledge. The Shepherd's revelation about Oedipus's origins is the pivot on which the entire tragedy turns. Oedipus, although a king, is initially ignorant of his true identity and the prophecy that foretells his fate. The slave characters, in their interactions with him, symbolize this ignorance: even though Oedipus holds the highest position in society, he lacks essential knowledge about his own origins. The person with the least power in the social order is the one who carries the truth that will undo the most powerful.

This contrast between knowledge and power is one of Sophocles' central preoccupations. The use of slaves as bearers of truth accentuates the idea that wisdom and insight are not distributed along the lines of conventional hierarchy. The Shepherd does not choose to reveal what he knows; he is compelled, under threat. But the fact that he possesses the knowledge at all, and that Oedipus does not, inverts the expected order of things. The chorus of Theban elders often expresses sympathy and wisdom that Oedipus conspicuously lacks, advising him to listen to Tiresias. Oedipus disregards both the blind prophet and the common voices. His refusal to hear them is itself a form of blindness.

The presence of slaves in the play also reflects the social and political context of Sophocles' writing in Athenian democracy. Athenian citizens had the right to participate in democratic processes, while slaves were a significant part of the workforce whose voices were not considered in that democratic realm. The coexistence of democratic ideals and slavery was a structural contradiction at the heart of Athenian society. Sophocles may have used the roles of slaves to critique the flaws of tyranny and to highlight the importance of the voices of ordinary people alongside those of the elite.

The Shepherd's role in revealing Oedipus's true identity and actions is essential to the tragic resolution of the play. It reinforces the notion that truth and fate can manifest through unexpected and often overlooked channels. Oedipus had power over everyone he could see. The slave had power over the truth Oedipus could not.