Question

Men often aspire to full knowledge; partial knowledge involves perils as well as protections. Who are the characters with partial knowledge and what happens when they seek full knowledge? What conclusions can you draw from considering the idea of 'knowledge' in Oedipus? Could man’s desire to know all (grasp/possess knowledge) be considered a form of hubris?

Define "fate."  To what extent is Oedipus a dupe of the gods who have sealed his fate?

Answer 1

There are three forms of knowledge. The first one is that men have knowledge and it is known that they have knowledge. The second one is that who knows the knowledge and its interpretation in language and realizes the importance of knowledge to himself. The third one is that who increases his knowledge and is known for that knowledge. These three senses of knowledge are present in the Oedipus play. The person should have the potential to take judgement and realize the importance of situations in life. He should have virtue to realize knowledge in life. He should have knowledge to implement this in handling the various situations in life. Oedipus belongs to this third category of knowledge. It is an inherent characteristic of a person and should be at a freewill of a person to putforward and test yourself in the practical situations of life. The characters and examples of knowledge include the announcement of award for a person who is able to reveal the person who murdered Laius his father.. He further emphasizes that the man who committed murder will repent and will feel sorrowful and his inner consciousness will be uprooted. He will severly punish the murderer for the sake of happiness of the city of Thebes. The seed of fertility should be checked as it has to rule the entire empire with solidarity. He asked Apollo to ask Tiresias about the murder so that all the partial and complete knowledge can be attained and justified in the ruling empire.Oedipus even curses the murderer and vows that he will end the plague and disease which has spread among the people in the city. Oedipus accuses Tiresias of accusing the murder of his father. He then attacks Creon and even says that he will kill Tiresias also.

Fate and destiny as defined for Oedipus was his inner strength and desire to know the truth. In his childhood he realized that he is not the real son and perhaps an adopted son so he sought to return to Thebes and find his real parents who gave birth to him. It was hs inner feeling and self-consciousness which creates repentance and self-sufferings. The priest Tiresias said that was solely responsible for the death of his father although he was not the murderer led to a feeling of inner guilt and remorse in Oedipus and he vowed that he will find the murderer of his father and punish him. His fates were sealed due to his pride, arrogance and determination which saw Oedipus as a dupe of Gods. In the end his self-inner feelings were destroyed when he destroyed one of his eyes as a repentance to what has been said by the blind prophet Tiresias.