Oedipus Rex Critical Lens

“It is the truth that sustains me.” (2. 341)This is a quote from Teiresias, one of the characters in Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex. The quote has an alternate importance and significance for each of the distinctive characters in the tragedy. As for Oedipus, it would be inverse. He and his family all remained happy in their ignorance of the truth until the plague struck Thebes. The people infer that the God Apollo is punishing the people for not finding the murderer of Laius. Oedipus, as the great ruler he may be, promises to discover the killer and dispel the plague. People try to tell him that it would be better if the past was left alone. But the king was not reluctant and continued. He finds out that his mother is his wife and that he killed his father, The former king. Finding all of this out, Oedipus becomes his own prosecutor, and then his own judge and punisher. This story suggests that knowledge is vain and constrained in its capacity to convey happiness to the individuals who look for it. Sophocles certainly wasn’t timid about the symbol sight vs. blindness; words like

When Oedipus was born, his parents received a prophecy saying that Oedipus will one day kill his father and marry his mother; hearing this, his parents pierced and bound his feet and sent him off to be abandoned on a mountainside. He survived the ordeal and was named Oedipus; meaning swollen or scarred feet. His name and feet feature the fact that, since birth, he's been marked for suffering. Oedipus has always been damned, and there's not much he can do about it. They also highlight Oedipus’ ignorance. “Your ankles should tell you that… That was why you were given the name you bear.” (3. 976-980) The messenger told Oedipus why he got his name, but his name blatantly points attention to his scarred feet; which are the keys to finding his identity. Oedipus realizes it just a bit too late. He realized when the damage was already