Oedipus Rex : Negative Knowledge of the truth
Oedipus Rex
In the story Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is a seeker of knowledge and truth. The truth in this case is seen as a negative factor in the play. He struggles to uncover Laius’s murderer and his own identity despite numerous warnings that he should leave the truth alone. He also tries to overcome the reality of having children’s with his own biological mother. His pursuit of knowledge and truth, however, results in ruin as Oedipus uncovers his destiny, and finds he was better off not knowing. The play shows that knowledge is negative in its inability to bring happiness to those who seek it.
When Oedipus was just a baby he was taken away from Thebes to be left on a barren mountain to die after a terrible oracle was told to his father, Laius. Growing up as a child Oedipus always thought his adoptive parents were his real parents. Little did he know that his real mother and father still existed. Oedipus was raised by Polybus and Merope, members of the royal family. Oedipus grew up believing that the royal family of Corinth was his biological family; he was never told that he was adopted. This is the first instance where it is apparent that Oedipus himself was truly "blind" to the knowledge of his history, which will later on affect him negatively.
Later in Oedipus' life, he overheard a drunken man say that he was not his father's son. After hearing that, Oedipus confronted his parents and his parents told him that the drunken man was lying. Oedipus went to see an oracle. The oracle told him, "You are fated to couple with your mother; you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see- you will kill your father, the one who gave you life’s ”. Because of Oedipus’s lack of knowledge, he leaves Corinth. On his journey back to Thebes, he unwittingly kills his real father. After this happens, Oedipus reaches Thebes and becomes the new king.
Furthermore, with Oedipus being the king, he later marries Jocasta, not knowing that she was his
In the story Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is a seeker of knowledge and truth. The truth in this case is seen as a negative factor in the play. He struggles to uncover Laius’s murderer and his own identity despite numerous warnings that he should leave the truth alone. He also tries to overcome the reality of having children’s with his own biological mother. His pursuit of knowledge and truth, however, results in ruin as Oedipus uncovers his destiny, and finds he was better off not knowing. The play shows that knowledge is negative in its inability to bring happiness to those who seek it.
When Oedipus was just a baby he was taken away from Thebes to be left on a barren mountain to die after a terrible oracle was told to his father, Laius. Growing up as a child Oedipus always thought his adoptive parents were his real parents. Little did he know that his real mother and father still existed. Oedipus was raised by Polybus and Merope, members of the royal family. Oedipus grew up believing that the royal family of Corinth was his biological family; he was never told that he was adopted. This is the first instance where it is apparent that Oedipus himself was truly "blind" to the knowledge of his history, which will later on affect him negatively.
Later in Oedipus' life, he overheard a drunken man say that he was not his father's son. After hearing that, Oedipus confronted his parents and his parents told him that the drunken man was lying. Oedipus went to see an oracle. The oracle told him, "You are fated to couple with your mother; you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see- you will kill your father, the one who gave you life’s ”. Because of Oedipus’s lack of knowledge, he leaves Corinth. On his journey back to Thebes, he unwittingly kills his real father. After this happens, Oedipus reaches Thebes and becomes the new king.
Furthermore, with Oedipus being the king, he later marries Jocasta, not knowing that she was his