Theme of ignorance in King Oedipus and character relationships

Ignorance in Oedipus Rex

The toll of ignorance and deception on Oedipus Rex

Ignorance plays a major role in the fates of several characters in the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex. In the play, ignorance is not only contained to the characters and their backgrounds, such as Oedipus and Jocasta, but also to the former Theban king, Laius. Because of their complex relationship with each other, and the lies that Laius told Jocasta, the truth about the relationship between Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius remains a mystery until a messenger informs Oedipus of how he truly killed his father and assumed the throne in his place. Oedipus' and Jocasta's ignorance of their true relationship prior to becoming king and queen of Thebes was caused by Laius' ignorance of destiny and his (failed) attempt to defy a prophecy.

In the play, many, if not all, the tragedies that befall Thebes and the Theban throne are a result of Laius attempting to defy his destiny which entailed being murdered by his son who would, in turn, marry the widowed queen and his mother, and have children with her. In an attempt to prevent this from coming to pass, Laius took his newborn son away from Jocasta, pinned his feet, and left him to die of exposure. Because Laius had lied to Jocasta and told her that their son had died during childbirth, or shortly thereafter, and he believed that Oedipus had died due to exposure, Laius foolishly believed that he had escaped his fate. However, Oedipus was rescued by a shepherd and given to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth who were not able to have children themselves and became the only parents that Oedipus ever knew.

Oedipus' ascension to the throne was applauded as he came to this power of position after having defeated the Sphinx that had long terrorized Thebes. However, this period of rejoicing was short-lived and Thebes was soon plagued with sickness and barrenness. In order to overcome this disease, Oedipus has to find out who killed King Laius and bring them to justice. Oedipus takes the position of being "stranger to the story/and stranger to the crime/being too late [Thebes'] latest citizen" (Sophocles, n.d., p. 14). What Oedipus does not realize is that he played a major role in the story and he is complicit in the murder of the former king. When, after an in-depth investigation, Oedipus is told by Tiresias, "I say, the murderer of the man/whose murder you pursue is you," Oedipus is outraged by the accusation and cannot believe what he has heard (p. 21). Oedipus does not believe what he was told because the truth that he knows is that King Polybus and Queen Merope are his parents. This truth forced him to flee from Corinth when he was told that he "would come to couple with [his] mother, / and with these very hands of [his]/spill out the life-blood of [his] father" (p. 53).

Jocasta, being witness to the altered state that Oedipus is in, tries to reassure him by telling him that the seer, Tiresias, cannot be trusted because "there is no art of seership known to man" (p.40). She has based her assumptions upon the fact that a seer once told Laius that he would be murdered by a son, but "there was a murder, yes, / but done by brigands in another land, they say, / Where three highways meet, / and secondly, the son, not three days old, / Is let by Laius (through other hands of course)/upon a trackless hillside, / his ankles riveted together" (p. 40). Furthermore, because she was lied to by her husband, she believes that because Laius was killed by what she believes are "brigands" then "Apollo fails to make the son/his father's murderer, and the father/(Laius sick with dread) murdered by his son"(p.40).