Oedipus The Oracle And Seers
Oracles and seers are prominent figures in both historical works, such as Herodotus' Croesus and poetic works, such as Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannos. The hero usually asks for an oracle's guidance before he makes a major decision on behalf of his nation, such as going into a war or saving his people from a plague, but he also consults the oracle for personal or familial issues, such as the fate of a son. Oracles' words are taken for granted because they bring a message from the gods, hence they are conceived as the infallible agencies of truth. Yet in both of the aforementioned works, the oracles mislead our heroes, Croesus and Oedipus. This is not due to the oracles' failures though; the heroes misinterpret or avoid their messages. Both Croesus
…show more content…
When his polis is suffering from a plague, he consults the oracle and learns that he has to kill the slayer of Laios. He finds out that investigation following Laios' murder was not adequately efficient, and asks for the help of a seer. Since he was the one to solve the riddle of Sphinx and hence become the turannos to his polis, he has enough reason to believe he is the only one capable of taking revenge for Laios' murder, and he will certainly do it. Now that he is blinded by his kleos, he does not bother to give a thought on Teiresias' words that he is the one who slew Laios, which reminds us of Croesus' attitude towards Solon. Oedipus had been warned of the truth [alêthês (the unforgettable)] twice before: when "at a banquet a man drunk with wine cast it at [him] that [he] was not the son of [his] father" and when Phoebus told him "[he] was fated to defile [his] mother's bed and that [he] would slay the father that sired [him]." However, he seems to forget the unforgettable, and that is because of his obsession with his kleos. He even accuses Creon of setting a plot against him; that is the only thing that comes to his mind. His obliviousness persists until his conversation with the messenger from Corinth. The messenger first tells him that Polybos, his false father, is dead; but instead of realizing the message (that if he did not kill his father by his hands, then that is not his real father) sent to him,
When his polis is suffering from a plague, he consults the oracle and learns that he has to kill the slayer of Laios. He finds out that investigation following Laios' murder was not adequately efficient, and asks for the help of a seer. Since he was the one to solve the riddle of Sphinx and hence become the turannos to his polis, he has enough reason to believe he is the only one capable of taking revenge for Laios' murder, and he will certainly do it. Now that he is blinded by his kleos, he does not bother to give a thought on Teiresias' words that he is the one who slew Laios, which reminds us of Croesus' attitude towards Solon. Oedipus had been warned of the truth [alêthês (the unforgettable)] twice before: when "at a banquet a man drunk with wine cast it at [him] that [he] was not the son of [his] father" and when Phoebus told him "[he] was fated to defile [his] mother's bed and that [he] would slay the father that sired [him]." However, he seems to forget the unforgettable, and that is because of his obsession with his kleos. He even accuses Creon of setting a plot against him; that is the only thing that comes to his mind. His obliviousness persists until his conversation with the messenger from Corinth. The messenger first tells him that Polybos, his false father, is dead; but instead of realizing the message (that if he did not kill his father by his hands, then that is not his real father) sent to him,