Buena Vista De Oedipus Essay Research Paper

Buena Vista De Oedipus Essay, Research Paper

Buena Vista de “Oedipus The King”

Do you have a great understanding of “Oedipus the King”? The understanding

provoked by reading this story is not accidental but intentional. Sophocles

wants the reader to walk away with condemnation and regret. The reader can

not help but to walk away from the book with a better understanding of fate.

The knowledge gained is going to be different for each reader. To

understand the story, an eye examination must take place. A diagnosis of

each character’s function and true self must be performed. Unless, the

reader puts on his or her lenses of interpretation they will suffer from

impaired vision

First, the main character, Oedipus according to the story is the greatest of

men and the solver of riddles. Well, Oedipus can only solve the riddle of

his own origins by revealing a truth too awful to bear. Knowledge is power

but the insight gained from the knowledge is painful. Oedipus is the

perfect example of this philosophy. Oedipus’ strive to see everything

blinded him but even in his blindness he still searched for answers.

Christopher Nassaar writes, “Oedipus is thus the patron saint of

philosophers, scientists, poets and artists – of all truth-seekers. Like

Mulder and Scully in the X Files, Oedipus knows ‘the truth is out there’,

but unlike them, he doesn’t expect to have his eyesight restored for next

week’s episode”(187)! Nassaar also writes, “Oedipus is an inspiration for

mankind: he must find out the truth at whatever cost, and then accept the

full responsibility for the knowledge he has discovered. Knowledge plus pain

is better than Ignorance plus bliss” (187). Is Oedipus fate predetermined?

No, all the choices made are by Oedipus. He chose to send Creon to Delphi,

to listen to the priest, to ask for Teiresias, to have the Old Shepherd

fetched. And his blinding was freely chosen, not unchosen. Sophocles needed

Oedipus to appear as a wise person. In order to do this he had him solve

the riddle of the Sphinx. During this time period only the wise and divine

knew the answer to riddles.

Secondly, Jocasta, the wife and mother of Oedipus is the perfect character

for the blame of the whole mess.

“Jocasta is a victim in Oedipus Rex, but not as much as she is a catalyst

for Oedipus’ own victimization. She keeps her faith throughout and tries to

relieve Oedipus of his. Because of this, readers may in turn pity her and

loathe her. But the gods tested the king of Thebes through her – the main

goal of the play – and both he and she failed.”(Boyer, “Jocasta The Pawn…”

57)

Throughout the play, Jocasta tested the beliefs of those around her by

feigning disbelief in the gods herself. At the beginning of the play she

can be seen carrying garlands and incense to the altar and tries to appeal

to Apollo to purify the city. Later, she denies her belief in the gods

totally. “While her faith remains strong, her task from the gods is to test

the faiths of others, especially that of Oedipus, which she does” (Boyer,

“Jocasta The Pawn…” 57). Boyer also writes, “Why, then, would Jocasta be

forced to perform such a dubious task for the gods? It is because she tried

to avoid an earlier prophecy. By tying her child’s feet together and casting

him out, she attempted to defeat the gods, and this of course angered them.

Her punishment, then, was to test the beliefs of the very child she cast

out”(“Jocasta the Pawn…” 57). All in all Jocasta is the perfect suspect for

the outcome of everyone’s fate.

Thirdly, Creon, is the bother-in-law of Oedipus. He is the perfect example

that the first will be last and the last first. At the beginning of the

story Creon is a messenger who is sent to Oracle at Delphi for an answer.

Sophocles uses Creon as a pawn to block the king’s path. As a pawn, he is

only used to spark a flame of angry inside of Oedipus. Creon is very

successful in putting Oedipus in checkmate. In the end he has taken the

throne and now sits in rule. Creon now has the power to send Oedipus as a

messenger to find the truth.

Teiresias who is beckon upon by Oedipus sets the action in motion.

Teiresias should be seen as a defensive chess piece in favor of Oedipus. In

Oedipus’ eyes Teiresias is just a blind beggar who knows nothing. The truth

is that even though he is blind, he sees and knows all. Putting too much

emphasis on Tiersias is not important because he only used as a pendulum to

set the clock in motion and to keep it moving.

In this game of chess, the shepherd would be recognized as the queens piece

because he is free to move all over the board and is very vital to the

winning of the game.

“Who ever really thinks about the Old Shepherd in this play? His part in

the story is extremely vital though. He took the three-day old baby from

Jocasta, wh

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