Loss Of Knowledge In Oedipus The King

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In the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus’s downfall can be interpreted as brought about by his certainty of knowledge. The scholar Bernard Knox expresses that, “these attributes of divinity – knowledge, certainty, justice – are all qualities Oedipus thought he possessed – and that is why he was the perfect example of the inadequacy of human knowledge, certainty, and justice.” Oedipus is first held as the king of kings, and he believed himself to hold the knowledge he needed to act upon, yet this exact confidence led him to curse himself. Oedipus’s unending search for justice shows his commendable qualities, yet this becomes insufficient; as he found the truth, he found his ruin. Even the Messenger and the Herdsman see how Oedipus’s …show more content…

He too believed himself to be light to all truths, on which he acted. While trying to discover the killer of Laius in order to save Thebes from eventual termination, Oedipus in his certain knowledge, curses the killer, “all must ban him from their homes…. May he wear his unblessed life out of evilly, as he is evil” (Sophocles 118). Without full knowledge of the actual killer being himself, Oedipus calls the killer evil, and exiles him from Thebes, banishing him from any Theban dwelling. It shows his ignorance to the actual truth, his unawareness to his own ignorance, and how he rashly acts upon his false knowledge bringing his ultimate …show more content…

The Messenger from Corinth tells Oedipus, “Ah my son, it is plain enough that you do not know what you are doing” (136). The Messenger, knowing the truth, sees Oedipus’s apparent ignorance. Oedipus’s own certainty had failed, pulling him fast towards his downfall. The Herdsman, when called to Oedipus for questioning on the killer, tells, “He [Oedipus] speaks without knowledge, he is busy to no purpose” (140). The Herdsman points to Oedipus’s pursuit for the truth filling his whole purpose that he is unable to see the actual reality of his predicament. As Oedipus comes closer to finding the truth, his certainty he had in the beginning of the play is failing. His certainty in his own knowledge brings Oedipus to his ruin as it clouds him from the

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