"Oedipus the King" | Review and Analysis
Updated: Mar 25, 2022
Oedipus the King
Translated by David Grene
In Oedipus the King, metaphor, imagery, and symbolism are utilized to document the life of a man who knew of the prophecy that plagued him, yet let his ego and pride blind him from discovering the knowledge of his lineage; this, consequently, resulted in misfortune to those around him. At a young age, Oedipus was told that he would murder his father and marry his mother. This thought, striking fear within him, led Oedipus to run from his parents, unknowingly unaware that he was adopted and leaving behind his adoptive parents. Oedipus’s blindness to this information had, thus, set the prophecy in motion once Oedipus had happened upon his biological parents, leading not only fulfillment of the prophecy, but his devastating downfall. This is due to the ironic realization that he, the King of Thebes, had proudly declared to his citizens he would right the injustice done to them concerning the murder of their previous king, Laius, unaware that he had murdered Laius and married his widow, Jocasta, Oedipus’ biological mother. Oedipus fulfilling the prophecy, as well as his lack of awareness due to his pride, remains as the pivotal theme in the play.
At the beginning of the play, our protagonist, Oedipus, was being introduced by a priest who claimed him to be the “Nobelist” of men who saved the people of Thebes after the devastating loss of their King, Laius. The priest, speaking for the people of Thebes, believed Oedipus with his “wise words” had saved them once from the “depths” of despair, and will continue to do so whilst helping the city recover from a curse that has befallen upon them. The curse was said to be lifted should the murderer of Laius be found and prosecuted, so Oedipus, believing himself to be a knowledgeable and dutiful man, promised the people of Thebes he would find the killer of Laius. As a result, he enlisted the help of a blind prophet, Teiresias, in the hopes of having the killer revealed.
However, Teiresias had refused to reveal the murderer, leading Oedipus to angrily react by belittling and ridiculing him, accusing him of lacking the knowledge needed to defeat the Sphinx who terrorized the city whilst applauding himself for having the necessary awareness. Such hurtful words provoked Teiresias, leading him to heatedly hint at the fact Oedipus had committed incest and patricide through a riddle. Oedipus, not quite understanding the riddle, disregarded Teiresias’s message and began his continued search for the truth, acting as an ironic allusion to Oedipus’s metaphorical blindness. Oedipus, while in a egocentric rage, had mocked Teiresias’s physical blindness whilst continuously mocking his intelligence level, yet Oedipus himself was metaphorically blind to Teiresias’s riddled truth.
Throughout the play, Oedipus’s pride stems from the fact that he views himself as a knowledgeable, honorable leader who saved the people of Thebes and can do it again by bringing Laius’s murderer to light. Nevertheless, his prideful nature leads him to make erratic and stubborn decisions, whose self-destructive behavior causes the people of Thebes to be forcibly subjected to a curse unknowingly brought forth by Oedipus’s transgressions. For instance, while blatantly ignoring the truth Teiresias placed in front of him, Oedipus chose to embark on his own quest of learning after having harshly ridiculing Teiresias. Moreover, after running away from his parents, he impulsively decided to kill the stranger on the road out of quick-tempered anger, blindly unaware that he was the very man Oedipus believed he was leaving home to get away from. Teiresias, as well as several messengers, had merely offered more hints towards these truths, but Oedipus continued to refuse their words, becoming more reckless and accusatory whilst claiming “fate” to be the reason he made the wrong decisions. Oedipus was presented with several paths and opportunities in life while having the intelligence needed to make smarter decisions, yet chose to remain oblivious and unaccountable to his actions.
At the end of the play, upon realization of the truth, Jocasta had committed suicide unable to bear with the reality she married and had children with not only her late husband’s murderer, but also the son they had together. Oedipus, after hearing of Jocasta’s suicide and having finally realized the truth, had physically blinded himself. This act was a symbolic reference to the overarching, ironic theme of the play, which was Oedipus being blind from the consequences of his actions and the truth of his lineage that his prideful nature never truly allowed him to see. He murdered his father from impulsive anger, married his mother in unsighted obliviousness, and purposefully ignored Teiresias’ message rather than choosing to investigate the legitimacy of his words. By blinding himself, Oedipus was finally directly acknowledging his inability to avoid the prophecy whilst owning up to his actions that left the city of Thebes plagued, and his father and mother dead. Oedipus had been metaphorically blind to the truth; now, however, he was physically blind as a punishment to his ignorance.
I thought the play, Oedipus the King, to be fascinating! It was dramatic and a little extreme, but still an interesting plot that contains many symbolic and ironic references, nonetheless. Typically, I am not into many older plays, as I find them hard to read and decipher their message given the older language. I’m also not as into the themes and plots because, as previously mentioned, they tend to run a little too dramatic with not as much emphasis on building actual strongly developed character relationships. However, this one was unique, and the message rang loud and clear. Oedipus was selfish and blind to his actions, unaware of the consequences of said actions. He did whatever he wanted while chalking everything up to fate, believing himself to be much nobler and honorable than he is. He did what he wanted reckless, and those around him were negatively affected. By blinding himself at the end after finally having gained clarity of his wrongdoings, it was a powerful symbolic message to one being blind to their own actions even though they are not physically blind.
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