Oedipus Past example essay topic

"I am here to learn for myself - I, Oedipus, whose name is known afar... ". This is a play about the search for identity. What do you think? Back each point with a quote.

The tragic play, Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, is considered by many to be the greatest tragedy of all time. Its effectiveness as a tragedy is evident through the sheer drama and tragic irony that the audience are exposed to. The play begins 15 years after Oedipus' arrival in Thebes, with him as King of Thebes. Due to his ignorance and the sins he had committed, killing his father and marrying his mother, the gods laid pestilence and famine on the land.

The citizens consequently approached their king for help and guidance. Creon had also returned from the Apollo's oracle with the message that: "There is an unclean thing, born and nursed on our soil, polluting our soil, which must be driven away, not kept to destroy us". The killing of Laius is the cause of the city's pollution and the banishment of a man in the city is the only cure. This point sees the first signs of Oedipus' unwavering inquisitiveness, as he begins to question Creon on the details surrounding the death of their former king. The play does not originally begin as a search for identity, but more a helpful delving into what might be causing the city's misfortunes. As Oedipus probes further into the mystery of the killer of Laius, the unforgiving prophecy laid upon him begins to unravel in a calamitous sequence of events.

The first of these events is in the 'agon' (scene of confrontation) with Teiresias, a blind prophet. In this scene, Teiresias, against his will, is forced to tell what he knows about the killer of Laius. Much to Oedipus' amazement and disbelief, the prophet's visions see Oedipus himself as the murderer: "Then hear this: upon you head is the ban your lips have uttered - from this day forth never to speak to me or any hear. You are the cursed polluter of this land". Oedipus displays his intense hubris and dismisses this as a conspiracy of Creon's against himself: "Creon!

Was this trick his, then, if not yours?" It is here and onwards that Oedipus becomes personally involved in the proceedings of the investigation. As he confers with the wife and mother, Jocasta, he learns that Laius was killed at a place where three roads meet. This is the turning point, the anagnorisis, where Oedipus puts himself in perspective of past events and begins to become increasingly inquisitive, as one would when told he is the killer of his own father, and the former King. "My wife, what you have said troubles me, my mind goes back... and something in me moves... ". Oedipus' persistent, yet ill-fated, investigation continues, even as it is almost disproved by Jocasta's ignorant urgings.

He sends for a shepherd, the only survivor of Laius' party, to confirm his innocence or guilt. The concept of searching for his identity is not even initiated by Oedipus, but happens as a result of a messenger arriving to announce the death of King Polybus (who Oedipus believed was his father). The messenger informs Oedipus that he is not the son of King Polybus but was given to the king by him. Jocasta at this point realises that the prophecy had indeed come true and pleads Oedipus no to continue his quest. Oedipus is still adamant to find out the truth: "Nonsense: I must pursue this trail to the end, till I have unravelled the mystery of my birth" The shepherd who enters in Episode 4 confirms this, and all is made clear about Oedipus' past, and that the fate he had tried to outrun had eventuated.

It could be said that Oedipus' persistence and defiance of recommendations not to probe into his past is a sign of his hubris and stubborn, arrogant nature. However, I believe that if one were put in a situation as he was - being told suddenly that you are the cause of the 'pollution' in the land, which has arisen as a result of you killing the king, who is in fact your father! - an investigation such as he undertook would not be beyond 'nomos', considering it caused a domino effect with new information surfacing at each different encounter, prompting him to delve further. To say that this play is solely about the search for identity, in my opinion, would not be accurate. It is more a play about the search for the truth, which encompasses both the search for a murderer and consequently the unravelling of a deep hidden secret. Theban Plays Sopholces Translated be E.F. Watling Penguin Books 1947.