Oedipus The King Research Paper

Liu 1

Jacqueline Liu
Professor Grosshans
Engl 120-03 Spring
26 April 2012
Oedipus: The King of Guilt
It’s amazing how guilt, a simple human emotion, can be the driving force of all human conflict. But what is even more impressive is how far we will go to protect ourselves from the pain associated with that guilt. The number one defense mechanism in this kind of situation is denial and by denying responsibility for our actions we in turn rid ourselves of guilt. We don’t like to feel as though we have done something wrong because we fear the consequences. We don’t like to admit our guilt either because when we feel guilty we somehow find a way to be punished for it either consciously or subconsciously. Our self assigned moral responsibility
Vellacott singles out the event at the banquet, in which the drunkard tells Oedipus that Polybus is not his father, as an example that if rationally examined would hint at the true story of Oedipus the King. After this point, Vellacott’s article is simply to support his claim about the guilt of Oedipus. Vellacott believes that the question of Oedipus’ parentage and prophecy are so closely and obviously connected that he does not believe that
Sophocles could even harbor the idea that Oedipus would fail to connect the two together.
Vellacott also logically explains that upon leaving the Delphic oracle Oedipus would have made himself two unbreakable rules. The first, to never kill an older man and the second, to never marry an older woman, both of which he ultimately ignores when he murdered Lauis and married Jocasta. Vellacott introduces his last main point when Oedipus enters Thebes. He points out that within an hour of arriving Oedipus would have realized that he had killed Laius because Greeks talk about everything. Vellacott’s article clearly highlights several key events that contribute to the forthcoming guilt of Oedipus.
Looking at the evidence provided in Vellacott’s work as well as my own reflections
This rejection of reality is seen in almost all of the major points brought up in Vellacott’s article. This is what leads me to believe that Oedipus’ mind was aware of what was happening and in an attempt to protect himself from the guilt, wraps itself up in a cloak of oblivion to drown out the truth.
The major beginning of this oblivion is introduced when Oedipus first mentions the prophecy he received from the oracle of Delphi to Jocasta. As he tells his tale we can see that logically his actions make no sense. When the prophecy says that he will kill his father and lay with his mother he tells Jocasta that he “fled to somewhere where I should not see fulfilled the infamies told in that dreadful oracle”(796-798). Out of context this reaction is quite reasonable, but we must remember that the reason Oedipus goes to Delphi in the first place is because he is led to doubt that that Polybus is his father. So when the oracle warns him of the prophecy his reaction is not a logical one because he does not truly know who his father is. It is this doubt of his parentage that escapes the mind of Oedipus and causes him to react in an