Thus, his thirst for knowledge prompts the tragedy to a certain degree. His wife and mother at the same time attempts to dissuade him from the further pursuit of truth, hinting in a very interesting phrase that such 'fantasies' as the wedlock to one's mother is a constant appearance in dreams and should simply be ignored: "This wedlock with thy mother fear not thou. / How oft it chances that in dreams a man / Has wed his mother! He who least regards / Such brainsick phantasies lives most at ease."(Sophocles, 94) There is thus a hint in the text itself to the archetypical content of the story. Obviously, the myth of Oedipus was long known to the Greek audience before he staged it. Moreover, wisdom is shown to be a cause of disgrace many times, preventing men to be really happy on earth: "Alas, alas, what misery to be wise / When wisdom profits nothing! This old lore / I had forgotten; else I were not here."(Sophocles, 33) the play on blindness and clairvoyance in the text is also significant for this debate, as the thirst and the gift for understanding are shown to have sometimes disastrous effects. There are many other riddles which complicate the reading of Oedipus more and more. The oracle for instance, warns first Laius who attempts to avoid the disaster,...

Both father and son are therefore warned and they become enemies before they even know it: "Listen and I'll convince thee that no man / Hath scot or lot in the prophetic art. / Here is the proof in brief. An oracle / Once came to Laius (I will not say / 'Twas from the Delphic god himself, but from / His ministers) declaring he was doomed / to perish by the hand of his own son...."(Sophocles, 89) Interestingly and again ironically, Jucasta makes use of the oracle's story, which she thinks has remained unfulfilled, to soothe Oedipus' fears about killing Laius. Another essential element here is the way in which the stories are circulated, and the importance attached to them: "In thy report of what the herdsman said / Laius was slain by robbers; now if he / Still speaks of robbers, not a robber, I / Slew him not; "one" with "many" cannot square. / but if he says one lonely wayfarer, / the last link wanting to my guilt is forged."(Sophocles, 77) Thus, Oedipus has to dig up for the truth in the midst of the stories people know about himself.
The tragedy of Oedipus is thus a myth that has influenced mankind for thousands of years. Unlike another deviation or tragic situation that would probably only cause disgust, it is appreciated and re-used by culture precisely because of its mythical and highly esthetic quality. It is undeniable that stories like that of Shakespeare's Hamlet owe some of their baffling character to the Oedipus myth.

Works Cited

Green, Janet. A review of Oedipus Rex, in the Explicator, Vol. 52, no. 1, Fall, 1993, pp. 2-3. Reprinted in Drama for Students, Vol. 1.

Hamilton, Victoria. Narcissus and Oedipus: The Children of Psychoanalysis. London: Karnac Books, 1999.

Hogan, James. A Commentary on the Plays of Sophocles. Illinois: Illinois University Press, 1997.

Oedipus the King. http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/oedipus.htm

Sophocles. Oedipus…