Job And Sophocles Quest For Truth

Two stories that share a similar journey for the truth are The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex. However, man’s struggle for the truth is a theme that exists in literature of all kinds. The desire for the truth and the journey to reach it is what caused the fall of Adam and Eve in the ancient Hebrew creation story. It is also the same force that cursed Oedipus in Sophocles’ play. Newfound knowledge plagues Charlie in Flowers for Algernon and Job’s sudden epiphany in The Book of Job would come at the cost of his family and his fortune. The reason the search for truth is so common in stories both old and new, is its intimate relevance to everyday life. In daily life, people are constantly confronted with the decision of “to know” or “not to know.”
Is it better to live a stable and routine life where ignorance is bliss, or should life be a constant quest for knowledge regardless of the costs that it may incur?
This question is seemingly answered in two ancient creation stories. Both The Book of Genesis and the story of Prometheus and Pandora supports the idea that knowledge and truth seeking is an essential component of what makes people human. Not only does the truth empower human beings, it also leads to intellectual and spiritual enlightenment. However, nothing in the world is free. The idea that the truth can only be found through suffering is as much a part of the two myths as the benefits of knowing the truth. In The Book of Genesis, God denies Adam and Eve nothing except for the tree of knowledge. Adam and Eve are presented a seemingly obvious choice of living forever in paradise in blissful ignorance, or to know the truth and suffer the
In the case of Job, everything taken from him was returned. However, the case of Oedipus would be much more tragic. Oedipus’ mother/wife Jocaste suicided in shame and Oedipus blinded himself because he could no longer afford to look at his own children, born out of sin. Oedipus led a comfortable life, but one cloaked in deceit. Morality was blurred in Oedipus’ world and he lived his life blinded. He was looking for meaning where none ought to be found; such as marital love with his mother. His fate is worse than that of any other man. To the Greeks, there was no greater shame than dying nameless and unknown. Oedipus’ entire life was a lie and after he dies no one will know the real origins of his family and his children will forever be stained by sin. The realization of the truth allowed Oedipus to see himself clearly. Oedipus walked away from the moral ambiguities between mother and wife, right and wrong, and fate and man. In a similar way that Job found out he is dust, Oedipus discovered that fate reigns supreme and he can do nothing to change it. He freed himself from the web of lies he was entangled