The Excruciating Truth of Oedipus Oedipus is a man of
integrity and passion whose goal in life was to seek the raw
truth. Throughout the story, he constantly tried to obtain that
goal, but at times he tried to swallow his tongue because he
sometimes had the inclination way down in his gut, he might
be a killer. Worse then the fate of a killer, would be the
reality of being married to his mother. If fate/destiny
determines everything a person will do before they are born,
as it suggests by the play, then what crime is Oedipus guilty
of? I will answer that, MURDER. In my mind, when a
person describes a pacific place, time, and event, and I was
there, I would probably remember. “A land called Phocis, at
a spot where the road from Delphi meets the road from
Daulia. (Sophocles 41)” And with this, it really narrows it
down to either knowing that you were a murderer, or
wanting to deny being a murder. On the other hand, for a
short time after he killed his father, Laius, I do not believe
that he knew he was marrying his mother or that he killed his
father. As a newborn, he was brought up by the king and
queen of Cornith, where he was told by the Oracle of
Delphi, that he would someday kill his father and marry his
mother. Therefore, after this, he led himself to believe that he
would never return to this town due to the fact of killing his
father, but most of all, marring his mother. At this point, he
was thinking just like any other human. Get out. Leeman 2
“Indeed I shall. I do. I vent it all on you. Yes, you, you
planned this thing, and I suspect you of the very murder
even, all but the actual stroke. And if you had your eyes I’d
say you played the chief part to. (sophocles 20.)” And with
this I come to a conclusion that he is not a cold-blooded
murder, but a murder. He did a great cover up job, and do
to the fact that he married his mother, shows that he didn’t
know that he killed his father at first, or did he?