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landswithrow landswithrow
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6 years ago
How explicitly does the prophet Teiresias reveal the guilt of Oedipus? Doesit seem to you stupidity on the part of Oedipus or a defect in Sophocless play that the king takes so long to recognize his guilt and to admit to it?
 
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6 years ago

  • At lines 395396 Teiresias tells Oedipus, I say you are the murderer of the king / whose murderer you seek. It is difficult to imagine a more explicit revelation of Oedipuss guilt than this statement. It is, however, neither a testimony to the kings denseness nor a reflection of Sophocless inferior ability that it takes Oedipus so long to come to terms with his guilt. On the contrary, it is a testimony to the playwrights superior insight into human nature. Oedipus brushes aside this declaration as an ill-intentioned lie and accuses the prophet of plotting with Creon against him. What could be more characteristic of human nature than the desire to deflect bad news or evidence of ones own failings by impugning the source of the information? Even as the evidence piles up against him, Oedipus shields himself from the truth for as long as he can by clinging to one crucial point, the shepherds self-serving testimony that Laius was killed by a band of ruffians, not by one man.
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