The Unknowing in Oedipus the King pdf PDF

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The Unknowing in Oedipus the King Oedipus the King, created in ca. 496-406 B.C.E., is a play that has become a classic piece of American literature for hundreds of years now. The play accounts the tragic story of a king who loses it all, when an assassination occurs. The play starts off with the civilians of Thebes begging for support from their king Oedipus to help restore the city after a plague. King Oedipus immediately then sends his brotherin-law, Creon to the Oracle for guidance; once Creon returns, he expresses to Oedipus that he must search for the killer of Laios, the previous king in order to end the plague. Jokasta, his wife is weary of the situation and advises him to ignore the circumstances. Initially, Oedipus does leave the situation, however, he finds out that Laios was killed at the crossroads and believes the he himself is the killer. Oedipus later finds out that he is adopted and goes on a search to find his real parents. Jokasta becomes very worrisome that Oedipus will become knowledgeable of the truth and kills herself. Oedipus indeed does learn the truth, that Jokasta is his birth parents and becomes disgusted with himself. To end the story, Oedipus takes his eyes out and moves to the mountains as a punishment for oneself. A consistent theme within the play Oedipus was the search for identity. Across majority of the reading, Oedipus is often left in the dark, when it comes to looking for answers. His wife, Jokasta, is the root of most of Oedipus’s ignorance, due to the fact that she does not want him to know the truth. The truth being that she is his birth mother. Oedipus was persistently warned by the prophecy, however he held his wife’s opinion above the prophecy’s, and it was that that led to his tragic fate. Jokasta expresses,“You poor child. Never find out who you are. [...] Oh you poor doomed child! That is the only name I can call you now. None other, forever (513)!”

Unfortunately, there is truth in Jokasta’s words. Once Oedipus becomes aware of who his birth parents are, he realizes that he has committed incestry, and as a result, killed his father as well. Oedipus calls into question the timeless debate between fate and free will. Throughout the piece there is reasons to be found that suggest both sides are true. In support of fate, during Oedipus’ creation period, it is often the belief that the greek gods could see the future; one which was to be shared by a prophecy or tiresias (Lichtenstein). It could also be argued that, while unbeknownst to him, Oedipus’ fate had already been set into motion before he ever had the chance to change it. However, this widespread multicultural contextual belief was at times contradicted by the convincing thoughts of the particular characters throughout the play. For example, Jokasta was a strong believer of free-will; she states, “Why should a human being live in fear? Chance rules our lives! Who has any sure knowledge of the future? It’s best to take life as it comes (511).” Here Jokasta shares a more modern take on fate and destiny, leaning towards the idea that things happen randomly, instead of a predetermined path. Both before and after his birth, events happened that helped shape Oedipus’ unfortunate ending. It is ultimately up to readers to decide whether or not there is a predetermined correlation between these events, or if they are indeed random. Whether it be a conquest for one’s identity or determining if there is truth behind predestined answers of if fate is real or not, Sophocles added these themes to Oedipus the King so that the audience is able to think deeper than the surface of the play. He left many unanswered questions in order for one to do so.

Works Cited Sophocles. Oedipus the King. The Norton Anthology of World Literature Shorter 3 Edition. ed. rd

by Peter Simon, 2013, pp. 481-525. Lichtenstein, Jesse. "Oedipus Rex Themes: Fate vs. Free Will." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 22 Jul 2013. Web. 12 Nov 2017....