OTK Seminar
Claim #1: Although the guidance did not help the characters avoid fate, it proved helpful because it always told them what was going to happen.
Citation: “Teiresias: I say that you are the murderer whom you seek. Oedipus: Now twice you have spat out infamy. You’ll pay for it!”
Explanation: In the quote, Teiresias directly tells Oedipus who is the murderer and he is in denial and believes that he is lying. In other words, Oedipus is told exactly who he is looking for and, later in the story, has to go through a series of conversations in order to gather proof to believe Teiresias.
Citation: “Jocasta: He can not ever show that Laius death Fulfilled the oracle: for Apollo said My child was doomed to kill him: and my child -Poor baby!
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Oedipus: There is: But not for you, not for you. You sightless, witless, senseless, mad old man!”
Explanation: Teiresias just told Oedipus that he was the murder of Laius, and Oedipus does not even consider it to be true even though Teiresias has a reputation of being a successful prophet. The quote relates to the claim because it is a prime example of Oedipus’ willful ignorance of the truth, bashing it away, and insulting Teiresias.
Claim #3: Even though Oedipus was ignorant of his crimes of patricide, he is still guilty of them because if anyone else killed his father, the gods would still unleash a plague if it went unsolved.
Citation: “Oedipus: If I had eyes, I do not know how I could bear the sight of my father, when I came to the house of Death, or my mother: for I have sinned against them both.”
Explanation: Oedipus, himself, feels he is guilty of the crimes as he has called them sins, and, at this point in the story, the plague is lifted from the city as Oedipus stabs out his eyes. The quote supports the claim because the gods just wanted to punish whomever is responsible for the murder, and added to that, Oedipus himself feels that he is guilty of his