Misconception in Oedipus the King

Misconception in Oedipus the King

In many plays a character has a misconception of his her self and/or his

or her world. When this misconception is destroyed it can be a major turning

point in the story. "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles is one such story. In the story

Oedipus has such a misconception where he thinks he has a good life, but really

his life is morally wrong. This contributes to the theme or themes of the play

when they serve as the defining climax of the story. When the misconception is

stopped Oedipus sees that you cannot escape or change your past, but you can

still do great things even if you have been evil or immoral in your life.

When Oedipus was born it was prophesied that he would kill his father

and marry his mother. His father naturally feared this and told a shepard to

take the boy out and kill him when he was still a child. The kind old shepard

could not bring himself to kill a innocent little boy so he gave him to a

passing messenger to take as his own. When Oedipus was older he learned of this

prophecy and left home because he loved his foster father who he believed to be

his real father. A while after he ran away he traveling down a road when he saw

a coach coming. It contained his true father, King Laios of Thebes and his

bodyguards. When they almost ran him over Oedipus attacked them killing the

bodyguards and his father, thinking that they were highway bandits, and by doing

so he unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy. When he realizes this he is

devastated. This really contributes to the theme, that you cannot escape your

past. The fact that he killed a king and his father no less, is a major factor

in his exile later in the story.

When he discovers that King Laios was his real father he sees that by

not running away that he could have prevented this whole catastrophe. This just

goes to show that hindsight is always 20/20, Oedipus saw this and realized his

mistake. Him realizing that he cannot go back and change his past is also a big