Truth In Oedipus The King '

Truth is Not the Truth in My Eyes

Vanissa Tsang

When it comes to the root of a problem and the justification of one’s action, the truth is often sought after and be considered as the infallible account. Truth, however, is a knowledge that can be perceived differently by every individual. The truth is the driving force for numerous actions because of its distortion of human emotions and perception.

First, truth is used as a justification because of the bias one feels about the matter based on their emotions. Both Aeschylus and Sophocles’ characters feel blinding emotions such as anger, betrayal, and despair. After Clytaemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon, the Chorus “cast [her] off to exile, broken with [their] hate” (Agamemnon, 1435-1436). They

During Oedipus’ conversation with Teiresias, Oedipus accuses the Seer to be “blind in mind and ears as well as in [his] eyes” (Oedipus the King, 371-372) because Oedipus did not believe Teiresias when he said that “[Oedipus is] the land’s pollution” (Oedipus the King, 352). Oedipus was angered by those words because as his role as a king, it is his job to rid the nation of its plague; he put his trust in a well-respected Seer, Teiresias, who is highly regarded for his connection to Apollo. Upon hearing that the king himself is the source of the problem with no proof, Oedipus feels that his authority as king is threatened, which led him to angrily accuse Teiresias. In Oedipus’ eyes, his truth is that the murderer of Laius is the root of the problem, which at that time he was unaware that it was himself, so he was expecting a different “more truthful” response from Teiresias. Teiresias justifies his unwillingness to speak the truth because “[he] will not bring this pain

Both Aeschylus and Sophocles’ characters have different roles to maintain which provides different insights to certain matters. In Agamemnon’s case as a king, he had to make the decision to “desert the fleets, fail the alliance” (Agamemnon, 213) or “stop the winds with a virgin’s blood” (Agamemnon, 214); his truth being that he was in a difficult position, having to choose between making the decision as a king for his nation or as a father for his family. From his perspective as king whom many citizens put their trusts in his hands, Agamemnon chose the sacrifice of one life for the lives of many. His truth is that the nation will fall if the war does not proceed, and the war cannot go on without the sacrifice of a virgin’s blood – his daughter. Electra and Orestes both agreed that matricide is the right response because Clytaemnestra is now considered a traitor to the House of Atreus after murdering Agamemnon and revealing her adultery with Aegisthus. Electra “[goes] like a slave” (The Libation Bearers, 140) and was “leashed like a vicious dog in a dark cell” (The Libation Bearers, 434); from her perspective, Clytaemnestra no longer treated her like a daughter, and sought a husband for Electra to get rid of her because then Clytaemnestra can cut ties with Agamemnon’s bloodline. Since Electra is not treated as a family by