In: Chemistry
What symbolism do you find in the play,Oedipus?
Oedipus gets his name,as the Corinithian messenger tells us in Oedipus the king,from the fact that he was left in the mountains with his ankles pinned together.Jocasta explains that Laius abandoned him in this state ona barren mountain shortly after he was born.The injury leaves Oedipus with a vivid scar for the rest of his life.Oedipus injury symbolises the way in which fate has marked him and set him apart.It also symbolises the way his movements have been confined and constrained since birth by Apollo's prophecy to Laius.The three crossroads symbolises the crucial moment when Oedipus began to fulfill the dreadful prophecy that he would murder his father and marry his mother.Crossroads usually symbolises the moments where decisioms will have important consequence but where different choices are possible. It also symbolises fate and awesome power of prophecy rather than freedom and choice.