In Sophocles’ Oedipus The King, King Oedipus of Thebes is confronted
and strangely obsessed with the mystery of who killed Laios, the
former king of Thebes, for a great plague has overtaken the city of
Thebes because due to this murder. During his quest for the truth, he
begins to discover that the answer to his query is also the answer to
another disturbing mystery about himself, who am I? The work as a
whole seems to be a study of the nature of the mystery and how its
discovery brings out the true identity of Oedipus. The clues involved
in Oedipus’ puzzle surface a dark truth about his past and the fate
that he simply cannot shake the fact that he is the murderer and is
indeed controlled by the Gods, not as powerful as them.
When Kreon returns from Delphi, he tells Oedipus that he must, “avenge
the murderers of King Laios. (l.131)” In a desperate situation to save
his city, Oedipus focuses on Laios’ murder, consequently beginning the
play with the mystery of, “Who killed king Laios?” To help him in his
quest, Oedipus calls for the blind prophet Teiresias to use his powers
and identify the murderer. After receiving a ruthless interrogation
and many threats from Oedipus, the prophet reveals that Oedipus is in
fact the true slayer, “I say you, you are the killer you’re searching
for. (l.492)” Though calling Teiresias’ news as foolish deceit,
Oedipus later learns that the murder of King Laios had been foretold
to be at the hands of his lost son, which he exiled and sentenced to
death when his son was still a baby. Knowing that the same prophecy
was told to him by Apollo, Oedipus now knows that he is implicated in
the murder, and searches to find the underlying mystery of who he is,
which holds the key to the solution of the original mystery.
The mystery of who killed Laios quickly becomes dependent on the
mystery of who Oedipus really is and the events of his infancy and
upbringing.
Winston Churchill once said “It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.” Throughout the story of Oedipus Rex we see continuing theme of sight and blindness, not only in a physical aspect but in a more universal theme of trying to see and navigate one’s own destiny. King Oedipus Rex is a man that has be told of his future of killing his father and sleeping with his mother. In “seeing” this he makes an attempt to change what he thinks is true, when in reality he knows nothing and his blindness to this inevitably succumbs him to what is foretold. Through the story we find that Oedipus is not only blind to what is happening around him but also to the ambition of finding King Laius’s killer and also his own involvement in it.
Greek play writer Sophocles believes human understanding has evident limits, proven accordingly in context to Sophocles works such as Oedipus Rex. There is an abundance of arguments that can be constructed in consideration to what certainty and proof can be formulated from this particular claim, pulling from the reading one could comfortably confirm that the prominent extent of an individuals understanding is related to everything they are thought from a young age. The protagonist in the play know as Oedipus lives much of his life as a cocky reigning king of Thebes, he is firm in his belief and knowledge that under no circumstance , that he is the murderer of the previous king. Even with all the evidence put forth him, which would have disproven his long-lasting belied in his so called innocence, Oedipus instead utilizes these pieces of information with his secular reasoning and constant conviction that he could never be in fact the killer.
Aristotle defined a tragic story as the adventure of a good man who reaches his ultimate downfall because he pushed his greatest quality too far. Sophocles advocates the definition in the tragic play Oedipus Rex. He develops the play with the great polarities of fame and shame, sight and blindness, and ignorance and insight to show Oedipus’ experiences in search for knowledge about his identity. Through his search, Oedipus pushes his quest for truth too far and ultimately reaches his doom. Oedipus’ reliance on his intellect is his greatest strength and ultimate downfall.
References to eyesight and vision, both literal and metaphorical, are very frequent in all three of the Theban plays. Quite often, the image of clear vision is used as a metaphor for knowledge and insight. In fact, this metaphor is so much a part of the Greek way of thinking that it is almost not a metaphor at all, just as in modern English: to say “I see the truth” or “I see the way things are” is a perfectly ordinary use of language. However, the references to eyesight and insight in these plays form a meaningful pattern in combination with the references to literal and metaphorical blindness. Oedipus is famed for his clear-sightedness and quick comprehension, but he discovers that he has been blind to the truth for many years, and then he blinds himself so as not to have to look on his own children/siblings. Creon is prone to a similar blindness to the truth in Antigone. Though blind, the aging Oedipus finally acquires a limited prophetic vision. Tiresias is blind, yet he sees farther than others. Overall, the plays seem to say that human beings can demonstrate remarkable powers of intellectual penetration and insight, and that they have a great capacity for knowledge, but that even the smartest human being is liable to error, that the human capability for knowledge is ultimately quite limited and unreliable.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex has fascinated readers for over two millennia with its tale of a man who falls from greatness to shame. The enigmatic play leaves many questions for the reader to answer. Is this a cruel trick of the gods? Was Oedipus fated to kill his father and marry his mother? Did he act of his own free will? Like the Greeks of centuries past, we continue to ponder these perennial questions. Part of the genius of Sophocles is that he requires a great deal of mental and spiritual involvement from his audience.
Sophocles use of language allows his characters to show what is going on inside them to the reader. Many works of literature deal with what happens to a person physically and the resulting consequences. Many do deal with the issues that a person endures internally as a result of physical actions. In Sophocles work the events that take place in the human mind are the catalysts that drive on the story, the greatest events are not when an action happens but when the characters come to terms with what has transpired.
Oedipus Rex”, by Socrates, is a play that shows the fault of men and the ultimate power of the gods. Throughout the play, the main character, Oedipus, continually failed to recognize the fault in human condition, and these failures let to his ultimate demise. Oedipus failed to realize that he, himself was the true answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus ignored the truth told to him by the oracles and the drunk at the party, also. These attempts to get around his fate which was determined by the gods was his biggest mistake. Oedipus was filled with hubris and this angered the gods. He believed he was more that a man. These beliefs cause him to ignore the limits he had in being a man. Oedipus needed to look at Teiresias as his window to his future.
In the play, Oedipus the King, blindness is used metaphorically and physically to characterize several personas , and the images of clarity and vision are used as symbols for knowledge and insight. Enlightenment and darkness are used in much the same manner, to demonstrate the darkness of ignorance, and the irony of vision without sight.
Many times humans do things that contradict another thing they do. An example of this is one thing may be good but also bad at the same time. A person who has done this more then once is Oedipus in the writer Sophocles plays. Sophocles uses imagery like light verses darkness, knowledge verses ignorance and sight verses blindness.
Sophocles uses a mixture of both visual and emotional imagery to create the morally questioning, Greek tragedy ‘Oedipus Tyrannos’. He presents the audience with an intense drama, which addresses the reality and importance of the gods that the Greeks fervently believed in. The play also forces the audience to ask themselves if there is such a concept as fate.
Oedipus is a story about a few basic human emotions. Among them are rage, passion, humility, and guilt. The Ancient Greeks understood these emotions well; their society was based upon the logical emotions, but always threatened by the violent ones. Oedipus was at first told that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Fearful of himself, he fled showing a lack of humility away from his home, thinking that his problems would be solved. Later on, he gets into a tumultuous fight with a passerby on the road to Thebes. Enraged, he kills the man and his servants; this turned out to be a big mistake. After saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx, he marries and then passionately sleeps with the queen. Towards the end of the play, he realizes that he has indeed killed his father and married his mother, thus echoing the lack of humility that first drove him away from his adopted parents.
As the tragedy comes to a close, the truth is revealed to Oedipus concerning his lineage and unnatural actions. Although the truth had been spoken to him about these matters previously, Oedipus had chosen not to believe and understandably so. True revelation comes to Oedipus through the same slave that had been ordered to kill him as a baby.
...the murderer is in Thebes. “Here in Thebes, Apollo said. What is searched for can be caught. What is neglected escapes.” Basically, the gods concluded their destruction series in condemning Oedipus to exile or having him executed.
Sophocles’ Oedipus is the tragedy of tragedies. An honorable king is deceived and manipulated by the gods to the point of his ruination. In the face of ugly consequences Oedipus pursues the truth for the good of his city, finally exiling himself to restore order. Sophocles establishes emotional attachment between the king and the audience, holding them in captivated sympathy as Oedipus draws near his catastrophic discovery. Oedipus draws the audience into a world between a rock and a hard place, where sacrifice must be made for the greater good.
In this essay of Oedipus Rex there are four characteristics I will discuss. The first