Oedipus Rex: Reasoning and Inferencing
Passage A
Sophocles' Oedipus the King is a classic work of literature that opens our minds to the
possibility of preordained destiny, which is a timeless theory that holds as much importance in
our lives today is it did for those who lived in Sophocles' time. The human need to consider life
after death and understand the reason for existence has brought about many religions. Such
religions rationalize the big questions and require us in return to offer our trust or faith, our fear,
or even our lives. Oedipus' story is not only a testament to the solidity of fate and the power of
the gods, it also alleges that responding to one's destiny with arrogance will lead to disaster as
Oedipus and his family lead themselves right into what they dread the most.
From the beginning of the story we can plainly see that Oedipus has the confidence a
good king would be expected have, but his overly dramatic response to his people, his short
temper, and his paranoia, brings about questions concerning whether Oedipus is a confident king
or an arrogant ruler. We first see Oedipus' disregard for prophesy when he barely listens to and
then rejects the claims of the blind prophet Teiresias just moments after responding to him with
what seems like perfect trust and respect as a man of great wisdom. He tells Teiresias, "You
understand all things, what can be taught, what is locked in silence, the distant things of heaven,
and things that crawl the earth... Only you, my lord, can save us, only you can defend us," but
when the prophet points to Oedipus as Laius' murderer, his demeanor becomes angry and
defensive. Oedipus reacts to this by insulting the prophet and accusing his trusted friend Creon of
"reaching for my power, wanted to ambush me, get rid of me by hiring this cheap wizard,"
further demonstrating his very human, arrogant nature.
Passage B
Oedipus the King, a Greek play written by Sophocles, tells the tragic life story of King
Oedipus. What makes the play tragic is not the literal series of events that occurred, but the story
and the narration behind the events. Several elements contribute to the difference between
Oedipus's own autobiographical accounts and what others know of him. It is only when that gap
is closed that the reality of the situation is revealed.
However, Oedipus is a protagonist who encounters many obstacles during his search for
the truth. One of them is that he cannot step back and see himself from an outside perspective.
The other is the fact that he has no memory of his birth and where he came from. Therefore, he
cannot, by himself, close the gap and bring the events of his life into unity.
In the beginning of the play, Oedipus 'the Great' is completely blind to the offenses he
had committed. Indeed, he never thought the culprit who killed King Laius was himself. He feels
that righteousness needed to be served and he would be the one to serve it, proclaiming,
Oedipus Rex: Reasoning and Inferencing
And justly you will see in me an ally,
A champion of my country and the God
For when I drive pollution from the land
I will not serve a distant friend's advantage,
But act in my own interest.
Here we can see the extent of his pride and ignorance when he uses words such as "a
champion." He regards himself as a forceful and indomitable presence. To him, the fact that he
killed someone and married someone else's wife did not relate in any way with the death of King
Laius or what the oracle had said about him and his mother. Ironically, it is the blind prophet,
Teiresias, who not only sees the truth of Oedipus's circumstances, but he also recognizes
Oedipus's obliviousness to his situation.
To the king, Teiresias says, "You have eyes but see not where you are / in sin, nor where
you live, nor whom you live with. / Do you know who your parents are?" Here sight is being
associated with knowledge hence Oedipus's limited sight equals limited knowledge. Oedipus
might be able to literally see the present, but it is Teiresias who, perhaps in exchange for his
current lack of sight, can see beyond the present.
Teiresias is the one who is able to foretell the past and the future, for example, "A deadly
footed, double striking curse / from father and mother both, shall drive you forth / out of this
land, with darkness in your eyes…" What Oedipus believes about the past, or the story that he
has told himself about himself, consists solely of what he remembers. Thus one can say that there
is a strong link between how he perceives the present and what he recalls from the past.
This is where the fault of memory enters the equation. It is impossible for Oedipus to
remember the details of every event in his life; therefore, it is only understandable that he fails to
make certain connections such as the murder of a king and his killing a stranger on the road.