Oedipus The King Character Analysis

In the play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus is born a victim of the gods. As Oedipus grows he changes from a prideful king at the beginning of the play, a king in denial in the middle, to a fearful, lost man at the end of the play. Early in the play Oedipus begins the search for the murderer of the late King Laius. As stated in the play “Oedipus Rex,” Oedipus issues a policy statement, stating that whoever comes forward with information and details about the murder of

Laius, will be rewarded. If the killer himself confesses, he will not be punished, but will be permanently exiled from the city. On the other hand, if any citizen conceals the killer, Oedipus then says, “He will be cursed.” Oedipus continues that he will pursue the investigation “just as if

Laius was my own father.” The object of his search changes as the play progresses because

Oedipus does not know he is his worst enemy; he is ignorant of his fate but soon realizes the harsh reality of his life.

First of all, Oedipus cannot accept things the way they are and he is very head-strong in continuing the investigation. Unknowingly he is his own enemy. As stated in the Anders

Zachrisson article, “Oedipus the King: Quest for Self-Knowledge--Denial of Reality,” Tiresias, the blind seer asks Oedipus to stop the investigation, Oedipus refuses and becomes increasingly offensive. Tiresias then says that Oedipus himself was the man whose crime pollutes the city.

As stated in the Patrick Mahony article, “The Oedipus Rex of Sophocles and Psychoanalysis,”

Tiresias explains the curse that Oedipus inherited from his parents and that he is involved in a scandalous marriage. Oedipus reacted in a foolish manner and expressed his thoughts towards his accuser...

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...rophecy coming to light, he is questioned and told over and over from Tiresias that he is the murderer of Laius and the man who had brought plague upon the city and others such as the messenger and the survivor only comes to recant what Tiresias has already said but adds more to how it all got started. As the play progresses,

Oedipus becomes well aware that Tiresias was not full of foolishness but truth. The search for the unknown murderer then stops because he has been found standing in front of all of those who matters. Knowing his fate now, Oedipus faces that he really is his own enemy and needs to exile himself from the city to save it. The entire drama consists in the resistance and ultimate collapse of his presumption. Oedipus has to be broken in his pride through suffering.

The tragedy is not the tragedy of Oedipus the lost child but of Oedipus Rex.