Oedipus: The Search For Truth

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Sophocles's portrayal of the character, Oedipus, in his drama, "Oedipus Rex," is an excellent example of one character's unrelenting search for the truth. It looks at how the truth as Oedipus knows it and the truth as it is differ greatly and how Oedipus's actions bring about his own demise. It explores how the reality of his situation is slowly realized as the play progresses and how we see a transformation from Oedipus as the brave and arrogant leader to Oedipus as the disheartened and disgraced man.

From the Paper:

"When Creon returns to Thebes with his message from Delphi he reports
that the gods have ordered Thebes to dispel the murderer of King Laios.
The murder was not freshly committed and few clues have been left behind by the perpetrator. Still, Oedipus is ambitious and quickly sets about asking questions to better understand the circumstances of Laios's death. He learns that the late king and a band of followers were killed on the highway and the only witness to the event was so badly frightened that he remembered next to nothing. Oedipus knows that he needs to do as the oracle commands, however because Thebe's problems cannot be resolved otherwise."

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