Identity In Oedipus The King

1.) Who and what gives us our identity?

According Sophocles, the pre-determined and unchangeable force of fate is the root of identity. In his Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Sophocles illustrates the ironic power one's fate can have. According to Queen Jocasta the story begins when "there came an oracle, I do not say From Phoebus' self, but from his ministers, That so it should befall, that he should die By a son's hands, whom he should have by me. And him-the story goes-robbers abroad Have murdered, at a place where three roads meet; While from our son's birth not three days went by Before, with ankles pinned, he cast him out" (Sophocles 28). The young son, who was cast away by King Laius and Queen Jocasta, was found by a Sheppard couple and raised as the couples natural son. This child soon grew to become the future king, Oedipus. When news of the prophecy became know to Oedipus, he ran away from home in an attempt to prevent the prophecy from coming true. On his way to a new life he killed man "at a place where three roads met" (Sophocles 28). He then married royalty, Jocasta, and become king of Thebes. Ironically by trying to change

one's faith, both Oedipus and Laius fell prey to it and thus the tragedy of Oedipus Rex was inevitable.
2.) What happens when our identities collide with others?

When identities collided in Oedipus Rex, these identities reveal the truth. For example when Creon and Oedipus meet, it is their meeting that encourages Oedipus to search for the murderer of Laius. Each person in the tragedy revealed a truth when mixed with Oedipus.

3.) How do the other characters shape Oedipus?

Other characters shaped Oedipus into his destiny. For example, if Jocasta and Laius had never cast him away as a child Oedipus would not have been adopted, and through a series of unfortunate events been on the same road that ended with Laius death. Another example was the prophet Tiresias, who aided Oedipus in his realization of the man fate had created. Therefore the collision of characters in this tragedy, promoted the events that were meant to be to

occur.