I was thinking over
the play’s events and I could not help but wonder if Oedipus’s desire to know
about his birth and whether or not he killed Laius a manifestation of his
preordained destiny. Oedipus had the
opportunity to leave the murder unsolved because no one is suspicious of his
involvement in the crime besides Teiresias. He could have undermined Teiresias’ comments and followed Jocastas’
advice (lines 160-170) by not further pursuing a truth that would render him
guilty of murder and incest with his own mother. However, his curiosity forces him to want
more knowledge and by doing so he makes his horrible fate public. A rational Oedipus would have considered that
none of his pending problems were a result of his actions but ordained by “some
malignant God” (528-529). When he
learned of the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother he
left Corinth
Is Oedipus’s insistent
curiosity for self-knowledge a manifestation of his free will or the conclusion
of his divine fate to fail?
Does the idea of Hubris play into the intensity of
Oedipus’ curiosity and eventually his downfall?
What do we think of
Jocasta when she beckons Oedipus to stop further investigation into the matter
of his crimes?
-Eric Z.
Recent Comments