Oedipus
The tragedy of Sophocles's Oedipus the King is problematic because Sophocles did not provide a clear way to judge the actions of Oedipus. Sophocles in the play presented a conventional truth in which Oedipus like a detective sought out Laius' murderer. Within the play also exists another truth that is different from conventional truth. Conventional truth is obtained by collection and analysis of evidence, usually by someone who did not commit the crime. Conventional truth attempts to piece together the sequence of events. The other truth presented in the play is the truth that is possessed only by the criminal. Only the criminal would know the full details of the crime and why the crime was committed rather than avoided. Oedipus is the criminal that possesses the unique truth about his crimes because he did not attempt to avoid his own fate. Initially, it was logically inferred that Oedipus is an innocent man, who has suffered the cruelty of the Greek god Apollo. The innocence of Oedipus would be uncontested if there was no evidence that would suggest that Oedipus did not really attempt to avoid his own fate. Oedipus could have avoided his own fate by not leaving Corinth. Oedipus was told that he was not the son of
However, Oedipus completely doubted his relation to Polybos in the first place that is why he visited the oracle. This wasn't just any old man but an old man who had stature. The rest of the play describes how Oedipus traveled to Thebes solved the riddle of the Sphinx and became the King of Thebes. That should have been enough warning to Oedipus that he was carrying out the actions in the prophecy. Oedipus knew that he married and older women and killed an old man near the very place that he was told had a connection with his birth. Tiresias says " I say: you are the killer you would find" ( line 441) to Oedipus. Page 3Therefore, Oedipus should have known that is was not safe to marry an older woman. After which he would marry Laius' wife, an older woman. However, Oedipus makes himself blind once again to the facts and turns Tiresias' comments into an act of deceit. Instead he behaves as if he is blind to his own actions. That tells Oedipus blatantly that he is the killer of Laius. Oedipus had to have known that the man he killed was of royalty because Jocasta described that the man killed was in a wagon with five other men as his guards (lines 880-881). Oedipus wanted the oracle to tell him who his true father was because he did not believe Polybos. He also would never have left Corinth to seek the truth from the Pythian oracle (line Page 2917).
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Acceptance Essays
