Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Homer's Odyssey
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Homer's Odyssey
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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Sophocles’, Oedipus the King and Homer’,s Odyssey both deal on the topic of truth. In both works the character
Tiresias, a blind prophet, participates in the different journeys by revealing various truths to the main characters.
While the main importance of Tiresias in The Odyssey is to show that truth can be helpful, his importance in
Oedipus the King is to attempt to discourage Oedipus on his journey to find the truth because he knows the truth
can be negative as well.
The first thing that should be examined is the different ways that Tiresias reveals the truth in the two works. In The
Odyssey, Tiresias is direct and to the point. He starts by stating that “,A sweet smooth journey home …, is what you
seek, but a god will make it hard for you.', From what can be read, Tiresias feels no need ‘,sugarcoat’, what he is
telling for two simple reasons. First, he came willingly to Odysseus, sugarcoating the truth would be a waste of
time. The second and more important reason is that he has good news for Odysseus, relative to what has
happened so far. On the other hand, in Oedipus the King, Tiresias skirts around telling Oedipus the truth. In fact,
he initially refused to tell Oedipus anything at all, seen in such lines as “,You’,ll get nothing from me', and “,I’,ll
never reveal my dreadful secrets.', The important thing is that when Oedipus got Tiresias angered, Tiresias bluntly
stated that “,[Oedipus is] the curse, the corruption of the land.', When Oedipus responds to this, which will be
discussed later, he continues to berate Tiresias for ‘,lying’,. Following that, Sophocles uses Tiresias to foreshadow
the rest of the play for the reader, while cryptically half-hiding and half-telling Oedipus the truth, which is
essentially ignored. The fact that Tiresias had to be summoned, instead of coming on his own, and that Tiresias
attempted to hide the truth from Oedipus, shows that Tiresias was trying to protect Oedipus. He knew it would
cause Oedipus harm in the end. Tiresias’, differing attitudes in the works serves as a parallel to how the truth told
in general. Truth that brings hope to people is normally easily given, but truth that brings sadness or despair is
generally told with caution and reluctance.
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