'Oedipus Rex' Guide Questions for test on TUESDAY!

1. Creon tells Oedipus that he has “lost his sense of balance” and is “sullen in yielding and brutal in rage”. He also asks aloud: “Was he in his right mind?”.  How would you describe Oedipus’s madness?  Is he crazy or merely confused?  Is his pursuit of the truth noble, or merely insane?

            Oedipus’s madness is one rooted in his fear and anxiety over his fulfillment of fate. His destiny, foretold by the Delphi, weighs on him and in his efforts to defy it he simply succumbs to its inevitability. Oedipus is not crazy by nature but his confusion over his prophecy and the role he was to play in his father’s death and mother’s bedding drove him to insanity. Oedipus does all he can to prevent his fate by isolating himself from who he believes to be his biological parents, but his confusion over his origin causes him to unknowingly fulfill his destiny. His pursuit of the is noble for he strives to prove the opposite of his unfortunate reality, and his pursuit of knowledge originates from his quest to save his beloved Thebes and all of it’s citizens, for he vows that, “once more I must bring what is dark to light,” “To avenge the city and the city’s god,” “By avenging the murdered king.” (Page 9) Since Oedipus renounces the truth he searches for his own truth to prove that he is in control of his own destiny, and while some might consider this idea of free will a naïve, even insane, belief his actions are only done in with the noblest intensions.

2. Oedipus calls himself an “abomination” for killing his father and marrying his mother. If he was aware of neither, why does he call himself evil? Is a man responsible for the evil of his actions if he is truly unaware that they are evil? In other words, is ignorance a good excuse?

Teiresias explains to Oedipus that, “you live in hideous shame with those / Most dear to you. You can not see the evil.” (Page 20) and for this reason Teiresias attempts to save Oedipus from the horror of the truth and allow him to live in blind happiness. Although Oedipus was unaware of the identities of his real parents he called himself an “abomination” for his actions, he cannot forgive himself for his trespasses committed while unaware of the truth. The terror of killing his father and bedding and marrying his mother is too great to overcome, and Oedipus will never be able to justify his actions to himself even though his unknowingness in his infractions and his efforts to combat his fate were noble and he deserves forgiveness rather than the title of evil. Everyone should always be accountable for his or her actions, but when a man is truly unaware of the evil for those actions he should be partially pardoned. Ignorance is therefore a moderate excuse for Oedipus’ actions, he didn’t know the man he killed was his father but he stilled slayed multiple men just because they wouldn’t let him pass which in itself is a horrible crime regardless of familial ties. In regards to his mother he should be forgiven for he was unaware of her true identity and therefore when he married her and had children with her he was acting under the knowledge that she was just any other woman. Since Oedipus tries to defy his fate by leaving his home and coming to Thebes to prevent himself from trespassing against who he believes to be his parents he shows that all his actions of evil thereafter were committed blind from the truth and therefore less evil and partially forgivable.

3. Recount the events that lead up to the self-blinding of Oedipus.  Why does Oedipus choose this form of self-punishment and what is the symbolic significance of this act?

            The events that lead up to Oedipus’ decision to blind himself was the verification of his origin, the horrific realization of the weight of his trespasses against his parents, and the suicide of his mother / wife. Oedipus explains his decision to blind himself in his statements accompanying his self-punishment in which he says, “’No more, / No more shall you look on the misery about me, / The horror of my own doing! Too long you have / known / The faces if those whom I should never have seen, / Too long been bling to those for whom I was / searching! / From this hour, go in darkness!” (Page 69) The symbolic significance of this act is that although before he could see he was blind to the truth of his actions and he was not able to see his bleak reality until the acquisition of knowledge consumed him in self-disgust and drove him to physically blind himself in an attempt to escape the horror that became of his life by the glaring light of truth.

4. What is the significance of Iocaste’s constant admonitions to Oedipus that he stop thinking about the prophecies and stop worrying about his fate?  When does she really learn the truth, in your opinion? Support your answer with examples from the text.

            The significance of Iocaste’s constant admonitions to Oedipus, that he stop thinking about the prophecies and stop worrying about his fate, are that they show her desperate efforts to combat the acquisition of the truth for she already knows, deep inside her, that it would be better to live a happy life of ignorance than to confront and attempt to come to terms with the disgusting reality. Iocaste unfortunately quite quickly comes to the realization of their predicament and despite her great efforts to prevent Oedipus from also uncovering the truth his epiphany soon follows. Iocaste first really learns the truth when the messenger reveals to Oedipus that the man and woman who raised him are in fact not his biological parents and that he saved him from dyeing as an infant. Although Oedipus must still speak to his other savior, the shepherd, until he is convinced of the truth it is at this point they Iocaste has the horrific realization that destiny has been fulfilled and she has married and bared children with her own son. Her early realization can be seen in her attempts to persuade Oedipus against pursuing further investigation, the first of which contained the plead, “For God’s love, let us have no more questioning! / Is your life nothing to you? / My own is pain enough for me to bear.” (Page 56) Unfortunately for Iocaste she was unable to persuade Oedipus’ to end his obsession and investigation into his origin and therefore his consequent discovery condemned them both to suffer rater than for her to try to shoulder the load of the truth alone, which she was attempting to do by preventing Oedipus from verifying the truth for himself.

5.  How is this play actually about repression?  What are some examples of Oedipus repressing memories or feelings that he would prefer not to confront?

This play is deeply rooted in the characters attempts to repress the truth in order to sustain a semblance of normalcy. An example of Oedipus repressing memories and feelings that he would prefer not to confront is when he comments to Iocaste about. “How strange a shadowy memory crossed my mind, / Just now while you were speaking; it chilled my / heart.” (Page 39) Iocaste had just told him of how the king had inflicted harm on his son in an attempt to murder him so he would not live to fulfill his fate of killing his father; this awakens a subconscious memory in Oedipus of his abuse and abandonment as an infant. If he were to give any validity to this vision he would have realized the truth of his origin then, he instead chose to continue his charade and re-repressed this memory that was trying to surface so that he could continue to live in blissful ignorance. The entire play revolves around Oedipus’ pursuit to defy his fate and repress anything that would hint that he is in fact fulfilling it.

6. While the entire play contains multiple references to the eyes and sight, there are also many references to light and darkness as well.  How are these motifs related to ideas related to personal responsibility and self-knowledge?

            These motifs of eyes and sight along with light and darkness related to ideas related to personal responsibility and self-knowledge for people are responsible for expanding their self-knowledge, and while eyes might lift their dark lids to educate one about the exterior world it is the gain in knowledge that gives you sight into the soul and provides true enlightenment. Teiresias points out the difference in physical and spiritual sight early on in the play, when he reluctantly tells Oedipus of the fate he has already fulfilled, by explaining, “You mock my blindness, do you? / But I say that you, with both eyes, are blind:” (Page 22) Teiresias is physically blind yet he can see the truth of Oedipus’ identity and his trespasses against his parents, while Oedipus is physically visually enabled but knowledgably crippled for he cannot see the horrific reality he has fallen into. Once Oedipus gains the burden of the truth and is blinded by its horrific glare he inflicts such a blinding shock onto his physical being by blinding himself and turning off the light, explaining, “From this hour, go in darkness!” (Page 69) This play shows that it is one’s personal responsibility to balance the light and darkness of their life in order to enable them to only see the essential truths without blinding them with the horrors of total reality.

7. Discuss a few ways in which Oedipus Rex demonstrates the conflict between fate and free will. Ultimately, is Oedipus more a victim of prophecies and fate or is he a victim of his own bad decisions?
             Oedipus Rex demonstrated the conflict between fate and free will for by trying to oppose his fate and assert his free will Oedipus ultimately plays into his fate. The importance and the controversy of prophets is also addressed in this play, for if Laïos had never been told by the Delphi that his son was destined to kill him and bed his wife then Laïos would have not been driven to try and eradicate his son only days after his birth, furthermore if Oedipus hadn’t been told by the Delphi that he was fated to kill his father and bed his mother than he would have not tried so hard to distance himself from the man and woman he believed to be his adoptive parents and therefore wouldn’t have met his actually parents and committed the trespasses against them. Although, if one considers the prophets and their prophecies part of fate itself and it’s tool to wield humans to its will than the existence of prophets such as the Delphi are just are crucial for by informing people of their fate makes them strive to exemplify free will and defy it, which only plays into them ultimately falling into fates plan for them. Under the circumstances Oedipus was forced into, living in constant fear of carrying out a horrific fate, he did all he could to oppose it and nobly made decisions the best he could. Therefore overall he was a greater victim of fates inevitable destiny for him and the prophecies help in leading him to seal his own fate, than a victim of his own bad decisions. It should be noted that this victimization stands on the fact that Oedipus was ignorant to the truth and therefore his decisions were the best they could be based on his limited knowledge, if he had known the identity of his true parents from the beginning and with this knowledge carried out the same actions then he would have been a victim of his bad decisions. Overall, even if we all have a pre-determined destiny we should all strive to live our lives to the fullest, under the assumption of free will, and make well-informed and responsible decisions based on the knowledge currently available and allow ourselves to be held accountable for our actions.