Oedipus-The Tragedy Of Tragedies Essay, Research Paper

The tragedy of tragedies

We seek the truth in things because knowledge serves us. We also seek the truth because we believe it to go hand in hand with righteousness. Hence, man has sought to live in righteousness by seeking the truth in all things. However, Sophocles raises a moral dilemma in which a man, who religiously seeks the truth, falls victim to perhaps the greatest tragedy of all time. More specifically, Oedipus searches for the truth concerning his birth. Although Oedipus seeks the truth along with the expectation that the truth will allow him to set things right; however, the play suggests that Oedipus’s righteous intentions prove to be disastrous. Rather than illustrating the pursuit of truth to be virtuous, Sophocles presents the pursuit of knowledge as a forbidding journey with the power to destroy.

Sophocles protects the righteous by redirecting the blame for Oedipus’ misfortune onto fate. Oedipus is a righteous man. The only evidence questioning his righteousness was the act of (unknowingly) killing his biological father, Laius. However, during the period in which Oedipus the King was written, it was honorable to seek justice when one has been wronged. Oedipus was mistreated and therefore sought justice. Oedipus, when faced with an opportunity to seek the truth, pursued it with conviction. He sought to find his true birth parents, but a distressing prophecy was revealed to him. Being the righteous man he is, he attempted to thwart his fate by leaving his parents. Later, he journeys into Thebes (his true birthplace) and saves its people from the terrorizing sphinx. The people of Thebes are grateful and make Oedipus their king. Moreover, Oedipus’ righteousness propels him to capture the murderer of his predecessor king Laius. When Tiresias’s reluctance to answer Oedipus during their first encounter enrages Oedipus, Tiresias, with all his patience, endures Oedipus’ interrogation: Oedipus says to Tiresias, “grudge us nothing now” (Oedipus the King 1.108). Tiresias replies, “Just send me home. You bear your burdens,/I’ll bear mine. It’s better that way,/please believe me” (Oedipus the King 1.120-122). Knowing that the revelation of Laius’s murder can potentially save the distressed people of plague-stricken Thebes, Oedipus interrogates Tiresias without yielding to his unwillingness to answer Oedipus’s questions. Oedipus becomes enraged at Tiresias and believes that Tiresias has decided against the truth and against his people. Oedipus’s claims that Tiresias is “bent on betraying us, destroying Thebes” (Oedipus the King 1.133), yet there is no betrayal on the part of Tiresias. Tiresias only refrains from revealing the terrible truth because of his love for Oedipus, his king and saviour. If not Oedipus, Tiresias keeps silent so he may spare his people from a great tragedy. If not his people, then perhaps his queen Jocasta, who has endured all plagues and pains with her people. For all or any of these reasons, Tiresias’s righteousness prevents him from revealing the truth. It is unfortunate that Oedipus’s righteousness (or stubbornness) defeats Tiresias. The irony in the Oedipus/Tiresias confrontation is that two rights make a wrong.

Another confrontation exhibiting Oedipus’s righteous intentions occurs with Creon. Oedipus questions Creon, who returns from Dephi, to state his report, Creon answers, “If you want my report in the presence of these people . . ./I’m ready now, or we might go inside” (Oedipus the King; Prologue 103-104). The significance of this scene lies in the fact that Creon draws Oedipus towards the palace, away from the public (as indicated by the stage direction following the ellipses), while he makes the above statement. Clearly, Creon wishes to talk to Oedipus in private and does not wish to “Speak out, speak to us all” (Oedipus the King; Prologue 105), as Oedipus demands. Creon’s attempt at a private meeting with Oedipus suggests that Creon understands that in a time of crisis, one must weigh the impact of the truth before revealing it in a public manner. Since it is quite possible that publicly revealing an unpleasant truth could cause distress to his people, his queen, and to his king, . The necessity of weighing the consequences of truth implied in Creon’s behavior clearly illustrates the notion that truth can be dangerous.