Oedipus Many People Believe They

¶ … Oedipus

Many people believe they have lived long enough to know everything and some people are simply know-it-alls. These people are usually the most stubborn when it comes to telling them something with which they do not agree. In Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is such a person. He is arrogant and determined to find out the truth, regardless of what others are telling him. He thinks he knows it all and he foolishly pursues the truth. Oedipus is motivated be good intensions in the beginning of the play because he wishes to rid Thebes of the plague. However, he becomes obsessed with figuring out the answer and he gets selfish. Oedipus refuses to listen to those who might offer him useful advice because he thinks he knows better than they do. In the end, he becomes the reason for the plague and the truth of why becomes too much for him to bear. Oedipus is a sympathetic character because while he was arrogant, he was not planning for such a surprise. Oedipus teaches us knowledge is not always power.

Oedipus' first mistake is believing he knows everything and being arrogant about this. He places too much faith in himself. He thinks he knows best and will not allow himself to be talked out of seeking the truth. When Teiresias answers his question, he becomes angry. He does not listen when Teiresias warns him about his fate (Sophocles I.i.105). Oedipus calls Teiresias a "wicked old man" (I.i.118) with "no feeling at all" (I.i.119) and then blames him for Laios' death. He refuses to think anyone knows better than he does and when Teiresias says, "You yourself are the pollution of this country" (I.i.135) and, "You are the murderer whom you seek" (I.i.143), Oedipus does not listen. He does not realize how true Teiresias' words are when he says, "You live in hideous shame with those / Most dear to you. You cannot see the evil" (I.i.148-9). Oedipus forgets the plaque and becomes self-centered. To make matters worse, he also refuses to listen to his wife. She begs him not to argue with Creon. When she tells him the story of Laios, he only wants to know more. Iocaste tells him the oracles are wrong and tell him his curiosity is nothing more than a waste of time. She does everything she can to keep Oedipus away from the truth. He does not hear her and says, "I will not listen; the truth must be made known" (II.iii.146). He thinks he knows what is best for him and his people and turns his back on the advice of others.

Oedipus is headstrong and these decisions are not out of character for him. This type of attitude is probably what made him a good candidate for king. His interest in the past goes back to the time when he went to the oracle to learn more. If he had not done this, he would have never known about the mysterious nature of his past. Oedipus consciously chooses to run from Corinth, and this step causes him to run into Laios. Oedipus chooses to kill the men on his way to Thebes. He also chooses to marry Iocaste, a woman much older than he is. All of these actions demonstrate how impulsive he can be and how dangerous it is to act without thinking things through. He had a loving wife and a people that supported and believed in him and yet, this was not enough. He wanted a little bit more and that desire ruined his life.

Oedipus learns that anyone can be wrong -- despite what he or she might think. He thought he knew everything and he thought he journey would make him happier. He had to learn the hard way the even the king can be wrong. Oedipus does not think the truth would hurt him. Oedipus learns a powerful lesson about fate and how human nature ties into it. Robert Fagles writes that Oedipus "recognizes that the "prophecies given to his father . . . were true" (Fagles 143) and nothing he could have done would have stopped those prophecies from coming true. Oedipus' achievement is the "discovery of the truth, and that discovery is the most thoroughgoing and dreadful catastrophe the stage has ever presented" (150). Oedipus learns from his arrogance. He knows that he can be wrong and painfully so. The truth destroyed him and those he loved. The man who won fame for solving the sphinx's riddle turns out to be not so great.

Oedipus' character goes through a complete transformation by the end of the play. This transformation is not pretty but it is beneficial. Painful as his circumstances are, he has no one to blame but himself. This is not easy because of what this knowledge entails. Oedipus can look back on the events leading up to his discovery and see that he ignored the warnings of others and walked right into the mess he made. When he looks around, he cannot blame anyone but himself and this weight is simply too difficult for him to bear. In the end, he chooses death rather than living with the truth. After all, it has destroyed practically every aspect of his life. Walton writes, "Only when he has become physically as blind as Teiresias does Oedipus appreciate the enormity of the situation" (Walton). This is true and no one knows this more than Oedipus. When he admits he did it all himself, we know he has learned a valuable and painful lesson. In addition, he realizes he is not superhuman and, in fact, has defiled his mother.