Oedipus Rex undergoes a process of self-realization that leads him to universal truth. Oedipus is a central character who only struggles to find disappointment. Oedipus is in search of truth, and when he finally finds it he discovers that knowledge can be painful. He discovers that his life had been a mere lie. He believes that Polybos, who had no children, was indeed his father. The more the king discovered the greater truth was revealed upon his life. Iocaste who is his wife, is his long lost mother and her previous husband was his real father who he killed. Oedipus was living with Polybos because Iocaste had given him away because she has feared the oracle would come true. Oedipus' name symbolizes the marks on his ankles when he was tied up when he was discovered by a messenger. As a result of lies, a man has to live with the ultimate wages of killing his own father and marrying his own mother.
Cadmus Sowing the Dragon's teeth, by Maxfield Parr...
This image was first published in the 1 st (1876&n...
Oedipus slaying the sphinx. Attic red-figured leky...There is significant dramatic irony that is portrayed in the story. Before finding truth about marrying his mother, he "tells her is he should, "fear [his] mother bed?" Iocaste responds to not fear his mother's bed because many men dream of it happening. In the end Oedipus is sleeping in his mother's bed. Another example of irony is the character Teiresia, a blind holy prophet who warns Oedipus of a tragic coming. Teiresia though blind has the ability to see everything.
After reading this particular story, much sorrow is felt for the main character because he was born into a life of dishonesty. He never chose to kill his own father or be intimate with his own mother out of evilness but did this because he did not know the truth about his real father. As a...