Ignorance In Sophocles Oedipus The King

Throughout Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus can be found innocent on multiple occasions for his wrongdoing in both killing his father and marrying his mother because he is a victim of ignorance. The scholar Vellacott writes of Oedipus’ guilt saying that “if he was to avoid heinous pollution, he must make for himself two unbreakable rules: never to kill an older man; and never to marry an older woman.” This is a false statement because he killed his father out of self defense and married his mother was because he wanted to be the King of Thebes and have the Queen of Thebes, Jocasta, as his wife. All people, including Oedipus, are prone to ignorance in this situation because he was given up at a very young age and did not know who his biological parents actually were.

This troubles Oedipus to being to ask questions on the event that took place. Oedipus questions includes knowing the time of the tragedy, Laius appearance at the time, escorted with light or heavy escort, what Jocasta plans to do with him, who told

He knows the horrible truth now and so he therefore stabs his eyes with golden brooches to top seeing this disgusting truth and for the People of Thebes to pity him. An attendant is announcing to the people of Thebes about Oedipus that, “He screamed that he must never again see what evil he unknowingly, regretfully, brought into the world.” (27) Oedipus wants the people of Thebes to pity him for his horrible fate and so he should never see any miserable thing to come to the world. Oedipus pronounced to the people of thebes, “Could I still yearn to see my children, born from such unholy marriage? No, such things are not for my eyes, old man.” (28) Oedipus was explaining this to the wise men of Thebes saying that he shouldn’t see his children and terrorize them from their own lives. Oedipus has finally figured out his fate and has tied all of the pieces and clues together to have the truth

Tiresias takes pity on Oedipus and refuses to tell him the information that he knows, he tells Oedipus to abandon his search for Laius killer and continue to live blindly. Eventually he breaks, and tells Oedipus the truth, that it was him who killed the king, who was also his father. Jocasta, who is Oedipus wife, and birth mother, tells Oedipus to ignore the prophet, and again abandon his search. She recounts the murder of her former husband, and tries to convince Oedipus that he couldn't have been responsible, because he was killed at a crossroads by multiple bandits. The crossroads detail catches Oedipus's ears, and he begins to wonder if he could have been the one to kill his

One moment, Oedipus is brimming with hope; the next, he’s sure that he is the killer of his father, King Laius. Every time Oedipus thinks that it can’t possibly be him, evidence proves otherwise. His wife, Jocasta, attempts to prove his innocence but “lets out part of the dire secret by her allusion to the ‘triple crossroads’” (Haigh). By attempting to assist Oedipus, she

Oedipus Rex, the iconic greek drama written by the famous poet Sophocles, tells the tragic story of a man whose hubris and short-temper causes his inevitable downfall prophesied by the gods. He was never able to see that everything terrible that has happened to him is his fault. Oedipus, the King of Thebes, has been told by the blind prophet of Apollo that his city is cursed because of his own horrible actions. Being the excessively prideful man, he reacts rudely to the blind man. That prophet, Teiresias, reveals that the killer of the former King Laius is the same man who killed his father and slept with his mother.

In Sophocles play, ‘Oedipus Rex’, the protagonist Oedipus gains a new perception of himself and the people around him as he discovers the ultimate truth of his birth. Initially, Creon came to Oedipus with a concern as he was searching for the murderer of the previous king, Laius. The dramatic irony, “If any one of you knows whose hand it was that killed Laius, let him declare it fully, now, to me”, demonstrates that Oedipus sincerely didn’t know that Laius was his father. He dedicated himself to the discovery and persecution of Laius’s murderer due to his curiosity and constant questioning to the citizens. This idea is evident as Oedipus asks, “Did you not say that Laius was killed at a place where three roads meet?”

“Oedipus Rex”, written by Sophocles, is a Greek Tragedy about Oedipus, who born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta in Thebes. He was brought into this world with a prophecy that he was bound to kill his father. Laius, hearing this, ordered a shepherd to have his son killed. However, Oedipus was saved. He was passed from shepherd to shepherd until one brought him to Cithaeron. There, Oedipus was raised as royalty with his adoptive parents, King Polybus and Queen Merope. Once Oedipus was informed of his prophecy, he fled to Thebes, in order avoid killing his father. “Oedipus Rex” demonstrates the nature of innocence and guilt. This is shown by Oedipus unknowingly killing his father, realizing that he married his birth mother and had children with

Let it go. ”(Line 801-802) Oedipus answers with his anger, he is eager to seek for knowledge that’s being hidden, and he is not aware at the time that his

The phrase soon reveals its meaning and how Oedipus needed to take it into

Oedipus Rex, the story about drama, confrontation, confusion, and tragedy is one of four famous Greek tragedies of it’s time, and today. Written by Sophocles for Ancient Greeks was the first of four plays detailing how the tragic life of Oedipus came to be. Throughout the tragedy we see that Oedipus does not know who he is, though the audience is fully aware of his fate. Above the temple of Delphi are the words “Know Thyself”. This is ironic because of the lack of knowledge Oedipus has about his life. Oedipus does not know who he is in the sense of his parents, his actions, and his marriage.

The Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles extensively examined the role of irony, chiefly concerning the relationship between true knowledge and ignorance, in his play Oedipus Rex. In this battle of truth and falsehood, two foes appeared: Theban King Oedipus (who was investigating the cure to a plague upon his city caused by the unsolved murder of the former king Laius) and the blind prophet Tiresias (who Oedipus called upon for advice in which to solve the mystery). Having solved the riddle of the Sphinx who had previously been afflicting Thebes, Oedipus thought highly of himself, and believed himself able to solve the murder mystery by similarly witty means; however, Tiresias, blind yet clairvoyant, urged him that he did not see the truth of the

Through means of dramatic tragedy, Sophocles communicates a strong message geared towards an audience he may likely believe is living in the darkness of knowledge and truth. Through Oedipus the King, Sophocles explains the danger of denying truth out of ignorance. Once a stranger wondering into town, Oedipus became elected King and assumes the role of discovering who murdered the former thrown of Thebes. After many painful and insulting accusations, Oedipus accepts the fact the he’s the murder he searches for. Through the blind prophet Tiresias he also learns the former King was his father, and the woman that he married in Thebes is his own mother.

What Oedipus says here represents how blind he actually is to what happened, even though he is able to

In spite of his previous attitude, as the story goes on, Oedipus begins to hear the truth for its entirety to gain more knowledge about his past. He starts opening his ears and asking about Laius, out of fear that he was his killer, asking questions such as “Where did this thing happen?” (807), and “When? How long ago?” (811) referring to Laius’ murder. Then, when asked by Jocasta why he is suddenly so