Tyrants and Memory in Oedipus the King and OHYoS

On page 596-597 of Oedipus the King, the chorus has a relatively long dialogue about the power of the gods and tyrants. This reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Marquez's political views as well as his points about memory. The chorus says that tyrants are made from people who are too prideful and deem themselves special above others; they say that tyrants bring destruction. Marquez would agree; his characters became tyrannical when they lost their sense of identity and put themselves higher up than others. He would also agree about the destruction; he portrayed tyrants as violent and selfish, not helpful or caring. Oedipus is tyrannical in that he wants his subjects to turn to him for everything and to rely only on him. As we talked about, Oedipus compares himself to the gods and wants to take the place of powerful savior. Maybe the inevitability of his fated fall is somewhat of a commentary on the fates of tyrants. There's a Latin saying that translates to "thus always to tyrants! "The immortality of the gods is also described in connection to their everlasting memory and this reminded me of Marquez's point that memory keeps history and identity alive, which was also important in Sing, Unburied, Sing.