Oedipus The King Jocasta Quotes

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Sophocles once said, “If you have done terrible things, you must endure terrible things; for thus the sacred light of injustice shines bright” (Brainy Quotes). This quote directly relates to the life and adventures of Oedipus Rex. Oedipus Rex flees Delphi when he hears about an oracle that states he will marry his mother and kill his father. Why did this oracle affect him so much? How did he know this oracle directly relates to him? In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles masterfully incorporates the themes human will versus fate, nature of innocence and guilt, and a quest for identity. Ironically, both Jocasta and Oedipus try to run away from their fate but in the end, fate ends up winning. After Oedipus was made aware of his oracle by Apollo, he quickly…show more content…
Oedipus is innocent when referring to his mother/ wife, because he does not know that Jocasta is his mother until he speaks to the Shepard. “Exactly how she died I do not know:/ For Oedius burst in moaning and would not let us / Keep vigil to the end: it was by him/ As he stormed about the room that our eyes were caught./ From one to another of us he went, begging a sword,/ Cursing the wife who was not his wife, the mother/ Whose womb had carried his own children and himself” (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. 2. Exodos. 1201;1207). Jocasta tells Oedipus that she has a son, but he may not be alive. Laius had an oracle that once said that he will one day be killed by his son. Jocasta did not want this to happen, so she sent the baby to die. Oedipus is innocent because he does not know about Jocasta’s baby and does not realize that his oracle is true until he discusses with the Shepard. Even though he may be innocent with Jocasta, he is not innocent with Laius because he still killed him. “There were three highways/ coming together at a place I passed;/… He was paid back, and more!/ Swinging my vlub in this right hand I knocked him. Out of his carr, and he rolled on the ground. I killed him./ I killed them all. Now if that stranger and Laius were – kin, where is a man more miserable than I?/ … Think of it: I have touched you with these hands,/ These hands that killed your husband. What defilement!”…show more content…
Oedipus believes to know where he comes from and who his parents are, but he is not right. “‘Listen to me, I beg you: do not do this thing!/’ ‘I will not listen; the truth must be made known./’ ‘Everything that I say is for your own good!/’ ‘My own good snaps my patience, then: I want none of it./’ ‘You are fatally wrong! May you never learn who you are!’” (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. 2. 3. 1008; 1012). When Oedipus talks to Jocasta, he doubts everything about his past. He is motivated to find out who his real parents are. “Let it come! However base my birth, I must know about it./ The Queen, like a woman, is perhaps ashamed/ to think of my low origin. But I/ am a child of Luck; I cannot be dishonored./ Luck is my mother; the passing months, my brothers,/ have seen me rich and poor./ If this is so, how could I wish I were someone else?/ How could I not be glad to know my birth?” (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. 2. 3. 1021;1028). In this scene Oedipus is acting like a little kid, because he is very energetic and interested in finding out his individuality. He is not afraid of the results that will come out, he just wants to figure out his real
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