The Blessing and Curse in Oedipus the King, a Play by Sophocles

Oedipus is the problem and the solution in Sophocles’s “Oedipus the King.” Actions of his from the past negatively affect his present life and entire city. While on his way to the city of Thebes, Oedipus encountered and murdered a man who he did not know. He then proceeded to marry the Queen, Jocasta, as she recently became a widow. Oedipus’s actions unknowingly fulfilled his destiny, and upset the god Apollo. The city of Thebes was cursed until the murderer of Laius, the former king, was found and held responsible for their actions.

Oedipus, the new king, wanted to please Apollo and free his city from the curse, so he set out to find the murderer who dwelled within the city walls. Oedipus was under the impression that he has not killed his father or married his mother because he ran away from them in Corinth.

He also does not yet realize that the man he killed on his way to Thebes was Laius, as Laius was dressed in the clothing of a commoner.

Along with that, Jocasta believes that Laius had the child killed. Unable to put all the pieces together due to Laius’s lie about killing the child who was destined to kill him, Oedipus dedicates himself to finding Laius’s murderer within the city. As he questions the citizens of Thebes no one has any answers or tips for him about who did it. Still unaware that he is the murderer, Oedipus continues to search the city with no luck.

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Oedipus devotes himself to finding out who murdered Laius, a burden he would not have had to bear had he not murdered Laius himself. After his efforts to elicit answers from the citizens of Thebes fail, Oedipus is advised to speak with Tiresias, a blind prophet who can speak for Apollo and aid in Oedipus’s unsuccessful investigation.

Tiresias did not want to cooperate with Oedipus at the beginning of their interaction, most likely because he knew that Oedipus was unaware that he himself was the one he was searching for. Since Oedipus thought that Tiresias was attempting to be malicious and hide vital information from him about the murderer, Oedipus became angry. After being accused of being involved in the murder, Tiresias informed Oedipus that he was the murderer of Laius. Although this was the truth, Oedipus’ true identity was still surrounded by lies which lead him to believe that Tiresias and Creon were trying to frame him. Soon after his conversation with Tiresias, Oedipus tells Jocasta what Tiresias had said to him. In an attempt to comfort Oedipus and show that prophecies can be wrong she tells him the prophecy about her son who is destined to kill her husband and marry her. To Oedipus this story sounds eerily familiar to the the prophecy he was told that made him leave Corinth. He also begins to notice how similar Laius’s murder sounds to the murder of the man he encountered on his way to Thebes.

Suddenly Oedipus begins to become skeptical that Tiresias was right and that he was in fact the murderer of Laius. Oedipus’s attitude toward the situation begins to change at this point because the arrows are starting to point towards him as the murderer. In an effort to trace his origins and find out if anything he has been told by prophets is true; Oedipus calls upon a shepherd and a messenger who may have knowledge about his alleged adoption. After speaking with them for some time, Jocasta realizes that Oedipus is indeed her son and that the prophecy had came true. Shortly after Jocasta realizes, Oedipus realizes as well. Oedipus is horrified by what he has done, and in response he gouges his eyes out so that he can never see again. In order to lift the curse from Thebes, the murderer of Laius can no longer reside in the city, so Oedipus is exiled. Oedipus’s actions in the past are what caused Thebes to become cursed, and his present actions are what let the curse be lifted from the city. He was the only one who could fix the problem that he unknowingly caused.