Conceding to New-Found Acquisitions and Its Devastating Effects in Oedipus the King, a Play by Sophocles

We hear about change quite often. We see it in our political lives, our community, our personal lives, and our families. It is how we react, or handle these new ideas and concepts, that influences our actions and determines our livelihood. In the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles and translated by David Grene, it illustrates how not to concede to new-found acquisitions and the devastating effects it can cause by doing so. Oedipus’ fate demonstrates that we as humans are dynamic, therefore our families are also dynamic and change periodically. These changes can be good or bad, but nevertheless, they are fundamentally there for a reason. By comparing Oedipus’ experience whilst in ignorance of his fate and after, it exemplifies that family positions are interchangeable. However, the recipients must mentally allow the adaptations to come to fruition. According to Karl J . Rahner, a well-known theologian and Jesuit priest, humans are dynamic.

This means we are always changing, so it makes sense that our family changes as well. Now it is even more common than ever, with fifty percent of marriages ending in divorce and over two-hundred thousand adoptions each year that our families will adjust with time. Even Sophocles and the culture back in 400 BC thought this concept was alright, as Jocasta remarried almost immediately after Louis was killed. Family is considered to be the cornerstone of society, but it is not binary in that it can be perceived or modeled in different and new ways. Oedipus has a very rare situation. In the majority of cases, you know who your biological parents are. And in almost all cases, you never kill your father and marry your mother. Despite this atrocity, there is always a form of reconciliation or rehabilitation. When someone goes through a dramatic change in their life, whether it be a divorce or death, there are many different ways to go about dealing with it.

For example, a classmate of mine from middle school is a nine-eleven child. Meaning he lost his father due to 9/11, and when talking about it he said that he considers his step-father to be his real father. This is one way to deal with accepting what fate has to offer you, Oedipus unknowingly dealt with his fate all the way up to his discovery of his parents. That means ignorance was his way of accepting or allowing his destiny. But he destroyed that form of acceptance by seeking the truth. Many people think Oedipus was doomed for misery since his conception, or since the oracle said his prophecy. This is in fact wrong, Oedipus lived in bliss for a long time with Jocasta, and it was a misfortune that a plague came about that forced Oedipus to realize that he killed his father.

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However, he didn‘t stop there. He continued to search to unravel his unbeknownst fate which ultimately destroyed him Oedipus‘ misery was self-inflicted, not fate. By this Sophocles is depicting what could happen if you try to run away from your fate and not try to deal with it. No two humans are alike. We all have our own ways of handling stress or issues, we also grow and change in our own ways. Just like how we as a human change, so does our family whether that be new additions to your family or the loss of a relative. Similarly, Oedipus unknowingly chose ignorance as the way to deal with his situation. However, he destroyed himself by deeply investigating the matter. Ultimately, Oedipus did not respond to change as he should of leading to his demise.

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