Oedipus

Plato says knowledge of truth is dependent on the perception of reality; Sophocles shows this through a king's discovery of his painful reality. Through Oedipus the King, Sophocles shows Plato's theme of discovery by Oedipus' realization of the truth. When the truth is discovered one still views the illusions best, and then the truth begins to become clear, thirdly the truth is seen as it is, and finally it is seen and understood.

When one begins to encounter and deal with the truth one still views the illusions best: one "sees the shadows best" (62). The prophet Tiresias tells Oedipus he is the murderer that he is looking for. His response to this truth was, "Say what you like. It will all be meaningless" (25).When entering Plato's first stage, Oedipus is in total denial. Tiresias continues to make his point, but Oedipus angrily replies, "Enough! I won't listen to this sort of talk from you" (29). Oedipus is completely lost when he is faced with the truth. Oedipus says to Tiresias, "You have no power or truth" (25). When confronted with the truth, one still sees the darkness.

After the illusions fade, blurred reality takes hold: "Next the reflections of men and other objects in the water" (ln 63). When Jocasta mentions details of Laius' death, Oedipus says that what she said, "disturbed me to the soul, unhinged my mind" (51). Oedipus begins to realize the truth when Jocasta tells him that the man he killed and Lauis were killed in the same area (52). This causes Oedipus to become interested and inquisitive about uncovering the entire truth. Jocasta tells Oedipus the man he killed and Lauis looked alike and Oedipus replies, "I think I have just called down on myself a dreadful curse" (53). Oedipus becomes frightened at the chance that his prophesized curse has come true. The truth is realized in broken pieces that begin to come together.

Reflections of the truth then become the actual images: reflections become "the objects themselves" (ln 64).For the first time Oedipus get a glimpse of the truth and says, "Oh, it is all clear as daylight now" (54). Oedipus asks