'Face to face with Oedipus Rex in Orsay Museum, Paris' - by K J S Chatrath

 

I visited the Orsay museum Paris, yet once again, last year. I stood before the marble statue  ‘Oedipe a Colone’, admiring it silently. It portrays a scene from one of the Greek Tragedies written by Sophocles. It was chiselled by Jean Huges in 1885.

 

                                          Sophocles, 497-406 B.C. Photo source: Wikipedia

Oedipus becomes the king of Thebes. As the new king, Oedipus Rex married the widowed Queen Jocasta, his own mother. Yet it would be years before the truth would come to light. Oedipus ruled Thebes successfully, and he and Jocasta produced four children, two sons and two daughters.

 Years later when he discovers the truth, and out of tremendous remorse, he gouges out his eyes. Then the blind Oedipus wanders around various places, looked after by his daughter Antigone. 

And now the exact spot in the narrative as portrayed in this statue.

 - Set me on a rock, said Oedipus, and look after your blind father.
- I have fulfilled that duty for so long, Antigone replied sadly, that I no longer need to be told".
To persuade her father there was no bitterness in these words, the girl sits close to him and lays her head gently against his shoulder. Oedipus puts his arm around Antigone, who gazes at the blind man with an adorable expression of tender sadness.

 And then it was time for me to move on to another masterpiece in the museum.

Those interested for a detailed narration and art works depicting different scenes of the play may see https://www.thecollector.com/oedipus-rex-artworks/

                                           

(Text based on information sourced from the internet.)