Oedipus The King Argumentative Essay

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I am the defense attorney for Oedipus in this case. The evidence that the prosecutor presented today showed Oedipus’ actions of incest and patricide; however, he had no choice in committing these sins. At the time of these actions, he did not know the identities of his real father or mother. We demand his innocence in the verdict. As I said before, the defendant, Oedipus, had no idea who his real parents were at the time of his actions. Oedipus testified, saying, “My father was Polybus, king of Corinth. My mother, a Dorian, Merope. And I was held the prince of the realm along with the people there,” (Oedipus the King 852-854). He did not realize what he had been doing at the time of committing his sins. What can a man do if he did not know that his wife was also his mother? The prosecutor had stated that Oedipus committed incest, but was it really his fault? He didn’t commit it on purpose and Jocasta had not realized at the time that Oedipus was her son. It wouldn’t have seemed strange to Oedipus since he believed that his real parents were in Corinth ,so it couldn’t have occurred to him that Jocasta was his mother. No one told anything to the defendant until after he had became king and

However, if this was the case, why did Oedipus pressure Tiresias into revealing who the killer was? If Oedipus knew that he was the killer, why would he go as far as to insult Tiresias to find out the murderer? The leader of the chorus heard him yelling, “Nothing! You, you scum of the earth, you’d enrage a heart of a stone! You won’t talk? Nothing moves you? Out with it, once and for all!” (380-383). What murderer would insult a person that can identify the killer? We would like you to consider these statements when making your final decree. Thank you for your time in listening to