What Is The Contemporary Significance Of Oedipus Rex? (Answers)
OEDIPUS REX – In this article, we are going to learn more about the contemporary significance of the Greek Tragedy, Oedipus Rex.
The play was created by Sophocles and tells the tale of how Oedipus became King. However, this story still holds some relevance in today’s society.
At the start of the Play, the King of Thebes was told a prophecy that his son would kill him. As such, he sent his servant to drive spikes in his ankles and throw him in the river.
However, the servant, couldn’t bare to kill a child himself. So, he left the child for dead instead. Luckily, a Shepard who was passing by found the baby and gave him as a gift to his king and queen who couldn’t bare a child.
Little did they know that Oedipus’s life would end up in tragedy. When he was all grown-up, Oedipus learned the truth about his adoption. Following this, he left his city in fear of accidentally killing his father.
Afterward, Oedipus decided to settle on the city of Thebes and met an old man with his servants who angered him. Because of his rage, Oedipus killed all his servants and the old man.
Little did he know, that the old man was the king of Thebes, his father. Later, he defeated a Sphinx and was crowned the new King, married the queen, and had babies with his own mother.
Upon learning the truth, his mother took her own life and Oedipus, blinded himself and went into exile.
The relevance of the story here is that your deeds eventually come back to haunt you. The former king, without any hesitation ordered the death of his own child to save himself, which eventually led to his death.
Oedipus was also told that he was the one who killed the old man who turned out to be his father but he didn’t listen. This was because he didn’t want to believe the truth because it was “inconvenient” for him.
In Summary, Oedipus wants to highlight that people should not be blind to the truth, or else the truth of the world would blind them.
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