Comparison Of Myth And Investigation In Oedipus The King

There is a lot that can be observed and argued from the events that occur in each of the stories in the Oedipus trilogy. “Myth and Investigation in Oedipus Rex” by Peter T. Koper, “Oedipus and Abraham” by Moshe Shamir, and “Oedipus crux; reasonable doubt in Oedipus the King” by Kurt Fosso are three particular articles that have an appealing academic approach to the Oedipus trilogy. In Koper’s article, he mainly expresses how there is uncertainty in the crime committed by Oedipus; murdering his father, King Laius. In Shamir’s article, he makes an interesting comparison between Oedipus and Father Abraham. Similar to Koper’s article, in Fosso’s article, he tries to argue how there is “reasonable doubt” evident in several parts of the “Oedipus
Koper expresses how there is no concrete evidence that suggests that Oedipus did in fact clearly murder his father. He explains how in the story the servant tells Oedipus that King Laius was murdered by robbers at a place “where three roads meet”, however the servant fails to mention the amount of robbers at the scene. According to the author of the article, that is seen as crucial and substantial information to determine Oedipus’ innocence. In addition, Oedipus fails to obtain additional information on the murder of King Laius, as it appears he is more focused on determining his own identity instead. That is another reason, according to Koper, why Oedipus should not be blindly accused of the crime. He also argues that the people of the town immediately accept Oedipus’ guilt out of desperation, to stop the plague. With these significant points to consider, Koper believes that there is uncertainty that Oedipus truly murdered King
Koper. Fosso’s article is somewhat similar to Koper’s, however what diminishes Fosso’s article is the lack of supporting details. He makes the interesting case that there is reason for doubt in certain events that occur in the “Oedipus Rex” story, but fails to specify why we should not believe the events that transpire in the story. He claims that we should not believe Oedipus murdered King Laius because it may have been another elderly man that Oedipus murdered, but we do not have enough evidence to believe otherwise. Shamir’s article “Oedipus and Abraham” has an interesting academic approach since it draws a comparison between the actions of Oedipus and Father Abraham, whom is the first of the three biblical patriarchs. The downfall of the article is clear from the vague similarities from both their murders. This is what distinguishes these two articles from being as interesting as Koper’s