Oedipus the king is an emblem of monarchy. Eager to display his strength, fairness and  “humility”, but fails to acknowledge his fatal flaw, his “truth.” Much of his life was a lie, and it was deliberated that way to save him from his biggest enemy, “himself.” Instead of giving his attention to more important matters, he falls into intense curiosity to find out about his origin and his background. The Gods, being aware of his destiny, urge the messengers to be a bit restrictive to the information they relay to him. Oedipus, on the other hand can’t settle for just runaround answers and threatens to exile and execute for their lack of subordination. At this point, I realized, Oedipus, just like many other kings are overly power driven that their advisers or counsel can’t really “console” or “advise” them, because they feel as though they know it all.

Seeing the play into life truly opened my eyes. It left me with a series of questions, such as; why did he kill his father? It was clear that his father and his entourage almost ran him over and he decided to kill everyone in the carriage, but why was murder his first course of action? Why did his mother lie in bed with him and continue to be his wife throughout much of the play despite the fact that she knew he was the culprit for the murder of her husband?That in itself, is cruel enough, adding on to the fact she tended to him in her womb for 9 months. Was incestuous relationships common during that era?Also, was his mother justified for killing herself, considering she literally put herself into her own predicament. All the decisions she made was against both her and her son’s interest, so why feel pitiful for yourself at the end when the inevitable truth comes out? Most ironical, in the beginning of the play, they spoke about how Oedipus would be blinded by darkness and mental delusion that would forever haunt his life, and it actually happened as said. I thought, it was simply a metaphor insinuating he’d be devastated and not be able to forgive himself.

But the biggest question of all that lies unanswered as many critique’s would pick different sides is, who do we as the audience feel sorry for?Oedipus the King, who wouldn’t keep quiet and follow the course of his rule, or the mother who wrongfully took advantage of her son, rather than leave the throne or lie in the shadows?