Oedipus Ignorance Quotes

When she was told her prophecy, which stated her newborn son is going to kill his own father and lie with her, she tried to go against her prophecy and ultimately abandon her son. She also proved herself ignorant when she said “Why should man fear since chance is all in all for hum, and he can clearly foreknow nothing? Best to live lightly, as on can, unthinkingly.”. When it was brought to Oedipus’s attention that the father that he grew up with passed away, he had a sense of relief that part of the prophecy he was told didn’t become true, but he still had fear that what the Oracle said may become true, Jocasta tells him that it is better for him to live without thinking about what the Oracle said. When the messenger tells Oedipus that his parents who he thought weren’t his real parents and that his parents abandoned him, Jocasta upon hearing this figures out Oedipus’s real identity and says “I beg you – do not hunt this out – I beg you. If you have any care for your own life. What I am suffering is enough… Oh Oedipus, God help you! God keep you from the knowledge of who you are!”. In Oedipus’s case, Ellison’s quote applies in a differing way, because Jocasta tells Oedipus to stop searching for the truth about his identity because he is better off living unaware of his

Oedipus-Rex was filled with many impulsive, difficult decisions; much like when Jocasta and her husband at the time decided to attempt to murder their son, Oedipus. The prophet, Tiresias, came to Jocasta and Laius and warned them of Laius’ fate. Tiresias told Laius, former King of Thebes, that his son would ultimately be the death of him and his power. He and his wife, Jocasta, devised a sinister plan to “eliminate” the chance of this prophecy coming true. Shackling the newborn’s ankles together and leaving him to die on top of a mountain called Cithaeron. But as everyone in Thebes believes “fate works in magical ways”. Oedipus, the newborn at the time, was led by something mysterious back to Thebes to solve a riddle, kill his father and become the new king by marrying Jocasta and solving the Sphinx’s riddle. This put Oedipus exactly where fate wanted him. Later causing him to dig deeper into his past when things just don’t seem to add up. “Parents? Wait! Who was I born from after all?” Oedipus asked of Tiresias which started everything. After catching wind of this new investigation into Oedipus’ past and the acquiring of all these new details Jocasta finally connected the dots. Oedipus was the son she thought

In the establishment of the play, Jocasta and Oedipus seem as though they are a traditional royal husband and wife, with ordinary children. They love each other, unaware of the truth. Jocasta illustrates what she did to her son as a consequence of an incestual and sinful prophecy that her son would someday kill Laius and marry her, as told by an oracle. She reveals that she and Laius fastened their son’s ankles and left him on a mountain to die. She declares, “[...] My baby / no more murdered his father than Laius suffered -- / his wildest fear -- death at his own son’s hands” (794-796). While both

In addition, during this period female babies were much more likely to be abandoned at birth. Contrary to this, Oedipus was abandoned as an infant by Jocasta. In addition to the love that Oedipus has for the women in his life, in a monumental scene at the end of the play Oedipus cries out to his daughters and blindly embraces them. In this scene, Oedipus helplessly wails about the hardships that his daughters will soon face without once mentioning the fate of his two sons. Moreover, during this time men were known for having extramarital affairs by fulfilling their sexual desires while women were expected to remain faithful. In the play, there are no mentions of another lover of Oedipus. Additionally, it was not normal for men to socialize with their wives. Despite this being the norm, Oedipus finds comfort in talking to Jocasta. Oedipus confides in Jocasta, showing vulnerability towards a woman. Pietro Pucci states in his book Oedipus and the Fabrication of the Father, “Oedipus tells Jocasta how he was shaken by the rumor that he was illegitimate and how he secretly ran to Delphi to seek Apollo’s reassurance that he was the legitimate child of his parents, Polybus and Merope” (16). Scenes from the play reaffirm that Oedipus is humbled by the presence of Jocasta. Oedipus state, “I’ll tell you everything I fear. No one has more right than you do, to know the risks to which I’m now exposed” (Sophocles 898-890). Even after Oedipus finds Jocasta

Starting with Sophocles primary play, “Oedipus Rex,” the relationship between Oedipus and his parents support the works theme of fate and pride. Through antecedent action told throughout “Oedipus Rex,” Oedipus received a prophecy that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. Jocasta, his biological mother additionally received a prophecy long before Oedipus pronouncing her child to kill her husband. Both, Jocasta and Oedipus recall that they can outsmart the prophecies by avoiding the fate in which they write. With extreme pride that they carry out avoidance plans that contribute to the plot and irony of Sophocles work. Jocasta sentenced her son to death to avoid her prophecy. Oedipus ran from his perceived “real parents,” from Corinth to Thebes to avoid his fate, killing a stranger on the way to the new kingdom. Eventually, Oedipus and Jocasta get married and conceive children together providing accuracy to their fate later when all mysterious are discovered. Their relationships shows that the Gods are beyond their control, even though with their hubris that noted they could get out of it. The family relationship aspect of “Oedipus Rex,” situation adds more dramatized plot to Sophocles work. Faith in the trilogies is a concept in all of Sophocles three plays that can unarguably be avoided, Oedipus and Jocasta having the same thought process and traits shows a son and mother relationships. Jocasta and Oedipus marrying one another is Sophocles way of creating the irony for viewers of the play.

Finding out who his true father is seems important for someone who has just been told he will kill his father. Nor is Oedipus particularly intelligent about the way he conducts himself. Even though he did not know that Laius and Jocasta were his parents, he still does kill a man old enough to be his father and marry a woman old enough to be his mother. One would think that a man with as disturbing a prophesy over his head as Oedipus would be very careful about who he married or killed. Blindly he pursues the truth when others warn him not to; although he has already fulfilled the prophesy, he does not know it, and if he left well enough alone, he could continue to live in blissful ignorance. But instead he stubbornly and foolishly rummages through his past until he discovers the awful truth. In this way, Jocasta 's death and his blindness are his own fault.

In Oedipus the King, the only female character that plays a part in the play is Oedipus’s wife, Jocasta. Although Jocasta’s role in the play is a key component to how the story plays out, she doesn’t seem to have as many lines as the men in the play. This in itself can show that a woman’s opinion wasn’t believed to have much importance compared to the opinion of a man. Jocasta was simply expected to support her husband and his decisions. In the play, Jocasta’s role seem’s to simply be present for the sole purpose of helping push Oedipus into discovering the truth about his birth. She informs him that her former husband was told “that it was fate that he should die a victim at the hands of his own son, a son to be born of Laius” (Pg. 11, Ln 820) and herself. She then continues by telling Oedipus all of the details of Laius’ death, which helps brings him to the realization that he was the man who killed Laius. When they later discover that Oedipus is Jocasta’s son, she kills herself. This seems to be a predictable ending for a woman’s life to end in Greek tragedies and

Often the past will present answers to questions about the future as well as questions of the now, and in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ past plays an integral role in his pursuit of righting the wrongs that are affecting him in the present. In the play, Oedipus must identify who has killed Laius in order to exile them to solve the qualms of his people, and in a dialogue with Jocasta, who happens to be his wife as well as his mother, she reveals to him details of the death of Laius that seem far too familiar for his comfort (Sophocles 27). This revelation of information acts as a catalyst that forces Oedipus to make the connection between his past and what Jocasta is telling him. This realization that he may have been responsible for Laius’ death exposes him to the weight of the pursuit of justice sometimes hold for humans. Through this dialogue, Oedipus comes to fear that he is the culprit of the scandal that is plaguing the situation, thus putting him in the position of a criminal who will face the due punishment for the crime. This internal conflict that Oedipus experiences creates and

Fate is an important part to consider in leading the lives of the people involved in Hamlet’s time of era. They could not trust or believe that all beings were born with a free mind and will as they become occupied with believing on the gods above them and their superior abilities. In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Jocaste displays a general public's perspective about fate and shows the great lengths she takes to defy her prophecy. Thus she behaves like a self-centred and an in-denial person, as well as hiding a guilty conscience who ultimately reaps the consequences of actions known to be morally wrong. Overall, Jocaste is a strong character whose defiance leads to the extent to which she suffers an outcome that is deserved.

Jocasta was able to deny the truth for so long since she struggles with the reality that the man whom she had married was, in fact, her son. Moreover, she did not want to remember such dreadful ordeal surrounding the prophecy spoken earlier about her family and knowing she had participated in sending her son Oedipus away.

But unlike Oedipus, Jocasta handles her situation through hypocrisy and denial. As the play progresses, it becomes obvious that Jocasta is terrified of the idea that her life is influenced by the gods. Instead, she forces herself to believe that “life is governed by the operations of chance. Nothing can be clearly foreseen. The best way to live is by hit or miss, as best you can” (53). Jocasta’s life best resembles a balance, with the evidence to support the prophecies on one side and how much she can ignore on the other. She convinces herself that prophetic power does not exist, yet attempted to avoid the prophecy of Laius’ death by sending their child into the mountains. When Laius died, Jocasta reasoned that it was due to chance, thus proving the prophecy wrong. But the moment the Corinthian messenger revealed where he found Oedipus as a baby, Jocasta’s balance tipped. Not even Jocasta, who could ignore Oedipus’ injuries to his ankle and the meaning of his name, could overlook the proof. In her desperation to retain control of her life, Jocasta begs Oedipus to not interrogate the shepherd, and when he refuses, she takes her own life. Ultimately, Jocasta is revealed as a character who would do anything to avoid the truth. When the prophecies came to fruition, Jocasta realizes that she never had any control over her life. Unlike Oedipus, Jocasta refuses to accept her fate, and in her final act of defiance, an act she deems as her own, she commits

God help you! God keep you from the knowledge of who you are” (57 Sophocles). Jocasta pleads to Oedipus not to pursue any more knowledge because she fears the worst days of her son will soon arrive if he continues. Jocasta’s lunacy after she perceives the truth causes her to complete the truth because she commits suicide. Oedipus is held responsible for Jocasta’s death because his persistence to find out the truth about himself has caused his mother to become so wretched that she kills herself in misery. Oedipus’s ignorance is clearly evident throughout the novel because many people have known his life story, and as a result made gruesome decisions.

Oedipus did not know that his mother was going to be his wife. He was told from when he was only the prince of Corinth that he will end up sleeping with his mother. During the investigation of King Laius, the blind prophet is providing a detailed crime scene and interviewing the only eyewitness to his murder. In curiosity, Oedipus asks about who his biological parents are so he can finally know the truth and settle the rumors. The Theban Shepherd confirms that his parents are in fact Laius and Jocasta. Oedipus and Jocasta have not seen each other since the day he was born. Many years ago, she gave her three-day-old infant to her servant to be killed because she knew about the prophecy. Behind her back, the servant gives Oedipus to a childless royal couple living their separate lives without knowing each other. Jocasta tried to change their destiny, but their fate was already chosen for them. Regardless of Oedipus knowing that his wife was his mother, he still committed incest. “But now all god-deserted, born in sins, in incest joined with her who gave

Oedipus, outraged at the accusation, denounces it as a plot of Creon to gain the throne. Jocasta appears just in time to avoid a battle between the two men. Seers, she assures Oedipus, are not infallible. To prove her point she cites the old prophecy that her son should kill his father and have children by his mother. She prevented its fulfillment, she confesses, by abandoning their infant son in the mountains. As for Laius, he had been killed by robber’s years later at the junction of three roads on the route to Delphi.

Oedipus being married to his mother is another step of Oedipus fulfilling his fate by searching for these answers of his terrible fate. Constantly looking for answers is Oedipus’ fault because his tragedy is now discovered. Along with Oedipus finding out the truth Jocasta, his wife and mother, is very distraught about the situation and ends up hanging herself. This situation contributes to Oedipus’