Essay on Jocasta in Oedipus the King

Often the past will present answers to questions about the future as well as questions of the now, and in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ past plays an integral role in his pursuit of righting the wrongs that are affecting him in the present. In the play, Oedipus must identify who has killed Laius in order to exile them to solve the qualms of his people, and in a dialogue with Jocasta, who happens to be his wife as well as his mother, she reveals to him details of the death of Laius that seem far too familiar for his comfort (Sophocles 27). This revelation of information acts as a catalyst that forces Oedipus to make the connection between his past and what Jocasta is telling him. This realization that he may have been responsible for Laius’ death exposes him to the weight of the pursuit of justice sometimes hold for humans. Through this dialogue, Oedipus comes to fear that he is the culprit of the scandal that is plaguing the situation, thus putting him in the position of a criminal who will face the due punishment for the crime. This internal conflict that Oedipus experiences creates and

Oedipus, outraged at the accusation, denounces it as a plot of Creon to gain the throne. Jocasta appears just in time to avoid a battle between the two men. Seers, she assures Oedipus, are not infallible. To prove her point she cites the old prophecy that her son should kill his father and have children by his mother. She prevented its fulfillment, she confesses, by abandoning their infant son in the mountains. As for Laius, he had been killed by robber’s years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi.

Jocasta is forced out of denial and commits suicide at the same time that Oedipus discovers the truth. She feels so guilty for her despicable actions which could not alter the prophecy’s course and for her incestuous sins that she takes her own life to end the suffering.

God help you! God keep you from the knowledge of who you are” (57 Sophocles). Jocasta pleads to Oedipus not to pursue any more knowledge because she fears the worst days of her son will soon arrive if he continues. Jocasta’s lunacy after she perceives the truth causes her to complete the truth because she commits suicide. Oedipus is held responsible for Jocasta’s death because his persistence to find out the truth about himself has caused his mother to become so wretched that she kills herself in misery. Oedipus’s ignorance is clearly evident throughout the novel because many people have known his life story, and as a result made gruesome decisions.

Suicide is a desperate act that makes a strong, but sad, lasting statement. However, from this, a question arises from this last statement, why do people commit suicide? An answer is found through the character Jocasta from Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex. Jocasta, both the unfortunate wife and mother of Oedipus, is a static character. However, she goes through a minor evolution once she realizes Oedipus is her child. Jocasta’s prideful character and revelation of Oedipus’ birth cause her to commit suicide.

Oedipus and Jocasta both don’t want to see the truth. Although it may occur to them at some point, but they don’t give it a second thought because they think it is absurd and it isn’t possible. “Why should anyone in this world be afraid, since fate rules us and nothing van be forseen? A man should live only for the present day. Have no more fear of sleeping with your mother: How many men, in dreams, have lain with their mothers! No reasonable man is troubled by such things.” Jocasta is further from believing than Oedipus, she constantly tells him not to worry about it, don’t get worked up, and to just forget what you were told. Oedipus cannot forget what the oracle has said and goes on to pursue the case.

Rumor upon rumor, lie upon lie, truths are buried deep. Not everything that is heard should be believed. Thus, one should always consider all possible outcomes, for one wrong move can lead to the rise of a series of unsolvable problems. For example, the issues in Oedipus the King are introduced when Oedipus’s parents hide from the prophecy by attempting to kill Oedipus. Jocasta explains to Oedipus how the prophecy could never be fulfilled by justifying, “My son--- / he wasn't three days old and the boy's father / fastened his ankles, had a henchman fling him away / on a barren, trackless mountain.” (790-93). Though this reassures Oedipus, Jocasta and Laius cannot just simply prevent the prophecy from portraying truthfulness, for they are no match for destiny.

But unlike Oedipus, Jocasta handles her situation through hypocrisy and denial. As the play progresses, it becomes obvious that Jocasta is terrified of the idea that her life is influenced by the gods. Instead, she forces herself to believe that “life is governed by the operations of chance. Nothing can be clearly foreseen. The best way to live is by hit or miss, as best you can” (53). Jocasta’s life best resembles a balance, with the evidence to support the prophecies on one side and how much she can ignore on the other. She convinces herself that prophetic power does not exist, yet attempted to avoid the prophecy of Laius’ death by sending their child into the mountains. When Laius died, Jocasta reasoned that it was due to chance, thus proving the prophecy wrong. But the moment the Corinthian messenger revealed where he found Oedipus as a baby, Jocasta’s balance tipped. Not even Jocasta, who could ignore Oedipus’ injuries to his ankle and the meaning of his name, could overlook the proof. In her desperation to retain control of her life, Jocasta begs Oedipus to not interrogate the shepherd, and when he refuses, she takes her own life. Ultimately, Jocasta is revealed as a character who would do anything to avoid the truth. When the prophecies came to fruition, Jocasta realizes that she never had any control over her life. Unlike Oedipus, Jocasta refuses to accept her fate, and in her final act of defiance, an act she deems as her own, she commits

In the establishment of the play, Jocasta and Oedipus seem as though they are a traditional royal husband and wife, with ordinary children. They love each other, unaware of the truth. Jocasta illustrates what she did to her son as a consequence of an incestual and sinful prophecy that her son would someday kill Laius and marry her, as told by an oracle. She reveals that she and Laius fastened their son’s ankles and left him on a mountain to die. She declares, “[...] My baby / no more murdered his father than Laius suffered -- / his wildest fear -- death at his own son’s hands” (794-796). While both

Though some characters took suffering with quiet acceptance, other characters like Jocasta have a more skeptical and extremist response to suffering. In the play, when Jocasta first hears of Tiresias’ prophecy, she questions the legitimacy of oracles: “Racked with anguish, he [Oedipus] won’t admit the latest prophecies are hollow as the old.” Although what the Oracle at Delphi said to Jocasta earlier on in the story about her baby’s prophecy matched up with Oedipus’ story of him killing a man where the roads fork, she refuses to believe the Oracle’s power of prophecy. Furthermore, Jocasta’s extremist viewpoint is shown when she finally does find out that Oedipus is truly her son through the shepard’s confession, and she hangs

As prophets are the messengers of the gods, contesting with Tiresias is tantamount to defying the gods themselves. As king, he feels that he has the power to determine truth, and that he has supreme power over the city. He accuses Creon of conspiring with Tiresias, and threatens to exile or even kill him. Before Oedipus was the accused, his status as king gave him confidence and leadership, which are attributes that were productive in solving the mystery. After he was accused of murdering the former king, this status became a negative and caused him to be too overwhelmed with his power to identify the truth. This is also the point at which he stops trusting the divine ability of prophets. His mother Jocasta seems to stop trusting prophets at this point as well. She began to tell Oedipus not to listen to Tiresias, even though she proved at various points earlier in the story that she believed in prophecies. She pretentiously conveys a disbelief in prophecies as she speaks to her son and husband: "Fear? What should a man fear? It's all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark." She realizes that she failed in preventing the predetermined fate, but attempts to maintain the stability and reputation of the royal family by hiding the truth. The family would inevitably be destroyed, however, as was the will of the god Apollo. The inferiority of the family's political power compared with the divine power of

Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous tragedy ever written. Sophocles's tragedy represents a monumental theatrical and interpretative challenge. Oedipus Rex is the story of a King of Thebes upon whom a hereditary curse is placed and who therefore has to suffer the tragic consequences of fate (tragic flaws or hamartia). In the play, Oedipus is the tragic hero. Even though fate victimizes Oedipus, he is a tragic figure since his own heroic qualities, his loyalty to Thebes, and his fidelity to the truth ruin him.

Moreover, Sophocles’ insightful word choice is used to further explore the themes of free will and fate. While Jocasta is trying to convince Oedipus to go no further in his quest to learn his lineage, she tells him in her dialog, “You’re doomed --/may you never fathom who you are!”(4-5). Sophocles’ choice of the word “doomed” is again a word implying an inescapable fate. However, since Jocasta knows the prophecy has already been fulfilled the ill-fated future that she foreshadows is Oedipus’ tragic fall. Thus it is of significance that with her next line in the script in response to Oedipus calling to a servant to fetch the shepherd, Jocasta says to Oedipus, “Man of agony--/ that is the only name I have for you,/ that, no other-- ever, ever, ever!”(10-12). This is a turning point for Jocasta, not only has her speech become reduced to short clauses, she has also come to the conclusion that Oedipus has inflicted his physical and mental trauma on himself by his choices. As Jocasta exits the stage to commit suicide after

Unfortunately, to her disbelief, she is just perpetuating the problem. Jocasta believes that she can take the world into her own hands and prevent the awful tragedy that is her son killing her husband, King Laius, as well as sleeping with and bearing children with her murderous son. To prevent that awful occurrence from happening, she and King Laius bind the child up when he is just three days old and leave him to die on the side of a mountain so there is absolutely no chance of the prophecy being completed; however, she is greatly mistaken. She says feeling confident in her preventative measures, “...So in this case Apollo’s purpose failed…so much for oracles that map our future…” (Sophocles 29). Jocasta believes at that point in the selection that she has thwarted the prophecy of the gods. However, she later realizes that even though she takes precautionary measures to prevent that occurrence from ever happening, she is not greater than the gods. This is purely another example of the gods being sovereign rulers of the people of Thebes. In addition, the gods make sure the prophecy comes true and Oedipus commits the awful acts that he is destined to perform. Because of this, the gods remain victorious and in complete power over her life, her son’s, and the events that occur within

Jocasta rejoices, convinced that Polybus’s death from natural causes has disproved the prophecy that Oedipus would murder his father. At Jocasta’s summons, Oedipus comes outside, hears the news, and rejoices with her. He now feels much more inclined to agree with the queen in deeming prophecies worthless and viewing chance as the principle governing the world. But while Oedipus finds great comfort in the fact that one-half of the prophecy has been disproved, he still fears the other half—the half that claimed he would sleep with his mother.