Oedipus The King Analysis

“True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge but the refusal to acquire it.” This quote from the great philosopher Karl Popper perfectly describes the actions of Jocasta in Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex, as she is the one to blame for the main tragedy that occurs in the play. She had the knowledge available to realize that she was marrying her son but refused to allow herself to put the pieces together. Some may be quick to blame Oedipus for the tragedy, as he had a major flaw: arrogance; however, it had no bearing in the ultimate tragedy of the play, which is that Oedipus married his mother and fathered four children with her. Jocasta, on the other hand, knew that her son had his feet pinned and then saw Oedipus walk with a limp, should have communicated with him to find that they had the same incestuous

Sophocles wrote a tragic play, Oedipus the King, in which the protagonist, Oedipus, discovers his fate. Thebes, the area currently ruled by Oedipus, has fallen under a plague so Creon, Oedipus’ brother in law, is sent to ask Apollo, a messenger for the Gods, for advice on how to save Thebes. Oedipus discovers that to bring Thebes out of the plague he needs to find and persecute the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes. Oedipus searches high and low for anyone who might have information and finds a blind prophet, Tiresias, who claims Oedipus killed Laius. However, Oedipus believes this cannot be true because Jocasta, Laius’s former wife and now Oedipus’ wife, was prophesied to have a son who would kill Laius and have sex with Jocasta.

“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” (Jean de la Fontaine), a sobering reminder of the extent to which Oedipus and his parents, Jocasta and Laius from the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles fight a predetermined course plotted for them by the gods and written by the oracles, only for it to transpire tragically. Despite the inevitability of destiny Oedipus, Laius and Jocasta defy fate with the entirety of their being, for to acknowledge the lack of free will is to live in anguish. Both Oedipus and his parents attempt to separate themselves from each other in an attempt to avoid their foretold fate. Unfortunately, they suffer the realization that, in spite of their intentions,

Even though he is given the truth about his past, he is unwilling to hear it because of his pride. Here, Oedipus is given the chance to stop and turn back this quest, because in the end the murderer he must face in the end is himself. Instead, he begins to have self doubts about himself, which damages his pride, and continues on his journey into his past to restore his hurt pride. His pride forces him not to believe the truth, and so it leads toward his own undoing. Oedipus pride pushes him forward, shedding some light on the grim truths of his dark past. Finally, when faced with his wife Jocasta, she begs him not to continue with this mad quest, knowing that there will be nothing good for them in the end. Jocasta states “For God’s love, let us have no more questioning! Is your life nothing to you? My own pain is enough to bear” (Sophocles 1003-1005), realizing that Oedipus may be the murderer of her husband Laius and that the prophecy that the oracle said many years ago may finally come to light and be true. Oedipus however refuses to listen to her insistent pleas, and so gives up the last chance for him to turn back. Oedipus could have easily stopped here and listened to Jocasta but as Arthur Miller states

Oedipus thinks he is acting justly by cursing the killer of Laius, but because he does not have full knowledge, he curses himself. Throughout the play, Oedipus is told multiple times to cease his search because it will lead to his downfall. Jocasta cries, “For the gods’ sake, if you have any care for your own life, forbear this search!” (138). However, due to Oedipus’ urge for justice, he states, “I must not hear of not discovering the whole truth” (138). Due to Oedipus’ false certainty, he wishes to discover the truth, which will lead to his downfall. Justice is served through Oedipus’ discovery of the

Oedipus Rex is a form of literature that teaches life’s simplest lessons that people have trouble accepting today; the truth will always find its way out. Oedipus was just an ordinary man, raised by who he thought were his real parents, was strong and clever, saved the city of Thebes from the Sphinx and became the king. Though Oedipus might’ve seemed like a hero at first, accusations were made against him about the murder of King Lauis and that’s where everything unraveled. No matter how hesitant and neglective he was discovering the truth, it all started making sense to him. Oedipus had no idea he married his own mother and had kids with her as well. However, Jocasta thought she could outsmart the prophecy by sending Oedipus to his death, as a baby, but the messenger and the Shepherd saved him and Oedipus’s destiny had yet to come true. This proves that one cannot stop something from happening, and cannot hide from the truth

    Have you ever had one of those days when it seems that everything is against you, that life could not look any bleaker than it does right now? We have all had moments like those, but nothing can compare to the feeling Oedipus had on that dreadful day when he found out that he was cursed by the gods, destined to kill his father and marry his mother. This tragic story of the cursed man is told in Sophocles' play, Oedipus the King. This essay will examine one of Oedipus' speeches, found in lines 1183 - 1194, made before he learns of his appalling fate. It is a passage full of dramatic irony. We, the audience, know the truth. Even Jocasta has just come to realize the facts, but Oedipus is still

The more knowledge that Oedipus gains for the identity of Laius’s murderer, Oedipus expresses unsettling feeling towards himself and his assigned punishment for the killer. Characters like Tiresias and Jocasta warns Oedipus about the dangers of seeking knowledge when it pertains to the prophecy. Tiresias expresses to Oedipus when he first sees Oedipus is that "the most terrible knowledge is the kind it pays no wise man to possess" (383-384). All the series of events that lead to abandonment and the gauging of eyes was because of a prophecy that Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus detest and try to avoid. Tiresias already knows that Oedipus is well aware of Laius's killer and its connection to his prophecy. Tiresias is ultimately telling Oedipus to embrace ignorance because the grief that Tiresias is feeling because of the truth will only bring the same grief to

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

The way a person comes to terms with their fate is as significant as how they react to it. Oedipus has been searching for the murderer and discovers he is so only after he finally pays attention to information given to him. His constant impulsive way of thinking goes away for instant and becomes in tact with reality. Consequently, this does not last long for he goes and shames Jocasta after her death and gashes out his eyes to not witness his wrong doing. This action shows the root of his problem all along and why this situation was solved slowly. Oedipus acknowledges this by saying “Too long been blind to those for whom I was searching!” (Sophocles 746). At this point he his given limited options on how to proceed. Nonetheless, his acceptance of the gods comes in and makes him determined “ to recognize that his own judgement may be wrong” (Brooks 188). Oedipus clearly demonstrates that a response thought to be right can turn out not to be; which goes to say ones’ first understanding of a problem may have not been closely thought about. This is a lesson learned for Oedipus for he is one of “the foolish [to] learn modesty in misfortune” (Brooks 188). His discovery leads him to wanting to be exiled from city to repent his actions. He leaves the city healed still keeping his promise which allows for his determined trait to be presented. The sequence of events were driven by Oedipus’ character

Greek society was obsessed with discovering the truths of the universe, which was often reflected in their philosophy, art, music, beliefs, and plays. Sophocles, an author of such plays, often used the ideals of factualism and enlightenment in his writing. Oedipus the king is one such tragedy, where the quest for truth is the main focus. Through Oedipus’ and his wife Jocasta’s motives, actions, and speech, it is clear that the truth always emerges, and those who turn a blind eye to it for elongated periods of time will suffer. At the start of the tragedy, Oedipus and Jocasta are fully immersed in ignorance to Oedipus’ upbringing.

“These are the sorrows which have burst out and overwhelmed them both, man and wife alike. The wealth and happiness they once had was real while it lasted, but now--weeping, destruction, death, shame--name any shape of evil you will, they have it all” (Sophocles 73 ). Oedipus was once a King, having both power and responsibility. By the end of the story Oedipus’ actions in Oedipus The King by Sophocles affect not only his life but others around him as well. Oedipus matches Aristotle's meaning of a tragic character by becoming someone the audience can pity, because of his downfall in society and naive decisions that led him to the ultimate destruction of his former life, position of respect, and the admiration he once held from his people

  Charles Segal in Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge explains one of the pivotal functions of Jocasta in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex:

Oedipus Rex1, by Sophocles is an ancient Greek play about the tragic tale of a man named Oedipus who unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy claiming he would kill his father and bed his mother. I intend to research how ignorance contributes to the downfall of Oedipus and his biological mother and wife Jocasta, in Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. My original thought on the play were that Oedipus is not a victim of fate, but rather responsible for his own actions involving the fulfillment of the prophecies. There are three major side characters that provide opportunities for Oedipus to learn the truth, Teiresias, Creon, and Jocasta, as well as intentional setting for the play that provides foreshadow. I plan to evaluate these influences to understand the cause and effect of Oedipus’s actions.

Knowledge is not guaranteed to provide the answers the seeker craves. Sophocles demonstrates this in his play, Oedipus the King, as Oedipus quested for new knowledge. No matter how many times Oedipus was told to not search for answers about the death of the previous king, Laius, he still pursued. As a result of uncovering the truth about the murder, Oedipus is highly distraught by the information he learned. In Sophocles’ Oedipus, the King, Sophocles’ use of suspense and irony throughout Oedipus’ search for knowledge lead to the discovery of his destiny.