Throughout history, man has sought the answers to life's mysteries. It is part of human nature to question and explore what we do not understand or cannot control. In Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, the cunning character of Oedipus tries furiously to avoid his foreseen fate and outwit the gods and their divine will. By pushing the limits of his human boundaries, the fragile relationship between god and man becomes more apparent.
             At the beginning of Sophocles' play, Oedipus is faced with all the problems of Thebes, the city he is to rule. The crops are blighted, the herds are diseased, children are dying, and plague is ravaging the entire population. All these troubles developed after the reported death of the city's former king, Laius. The torments of the city are a curse on the people for not finding their ruler's murderer. This exemplifies the direct intervention of the gods in Oedipus' Thebes.
             Oedipus first shows his respect for the gods and their will by sending Creon, his uncle and second in command, to the oracle at Delphi to seek the advice of Apollo. Upon his return, Creon announces Apollo's demand to "drive out defilement nurtured in your land," and to "Cherish it no longer." This terrible act of harboring such an evil has tainted the bond between man and god. Oedipus takes Apollo's words to heart and vows to seek out Laius' murderer and bring him to justice. The ironic element of this is the fact that Oedipus' purpose of leaving home, eventually leading him to Thebes, was to escape the fulfillment of a prophecy made by an Apollonian oracle. He trusts in the gods' ability to see the truth yet questions the inevitability of truth itself. (Sophocles 95-98)
             Tragically, in his quest to find the murderer of Laius and his own identity, Oedipus crosses the appropriate human limits of behavior. He becomes so determined to uncover mysteries
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