Oedipus the King is a powerful Greek play written by Sophocles. In the play, the oracles predict the future of the characters, yet the characters try their best to fight against their fate. Oedipus is a mythical king who struggles to find his identity as he tries to run away from fulfilling his destiny of killing his father and marrying his mother. Despite being furnished with intellect and wit, and an exceptional ability to unravel riddles and puzzles, Oedipus could not solve Tiresias riddle because of the lack of understanding and pride. Oedipus did not understand himself very well because he was still searching for his identity and his arrogance had kept him from learning the truth. The riddle was about him but pride and the lack of a clear understanding hindered him from solving Tiresias puzzle.
In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is depicted as an intelligent individual with an exceptional gift to solve riddles with ease. Oedipus had the ability to unravel riddles and this talent made him well known for interpreting and decoding mysteries and riddles. However, when he sent for the blind prophet Tiresias and asked him about the murder of the king, Tiresias spoke in riddles. Oedipus was not able to understand or rather comprehend the riddles because of the lack of insight/understanding to look inward in his life, and what was happening. The riddle was about Oedipus because it was explaining how his fate has been fulfilled unknowingly and that is why the city of Thebes had been stricken by a plague. Initially, Oedipus knew that he had run away from his fate, little did he know that even the woman he called his wife was his mother. Tiresias tells him, “do you know all unknowingly you are the scourge of your own flesh and blood, the dead below the earth and the living here above” (475). However, the fact that he had no understanding about his identity; he could not understand the riddle and thus could not solve it just as he had solved all other mysteries and riddles about other subjects.
Throughout the play, Oedipus spent the better part of his life searching for his identity. Therefore, when he met Tiresias, he could not crack the riddle because at that moment, he did not know his true identity and so there is no way he could understand the riddle. At that point of meeting the seer Tiresias, Oedipus was still searching for whoever killed King Laius, and he had no knowledge that Laius was his father. Hence, despite the riddle being very obvious, he could not comprehend it and have an answer to it because he had to find out who the murderer of the king was for him to know the answer to the riddle. Oedipus was so proud that he did not imagine that the prophecy about him murdering his biological father and marrying his mother had been fulfilled. He had married an old woman and even that could not give him a hint that Jocasta could be his mother and that the Oracle has been fulfilled.
In the play, it is ironical that Oedipus saved Thebes by answering the Sphinx riddle, which was very difficult compared to that of Tiresias. Oedipus had an eminent mastery of riddles and this is evident when Tiresias tells him “But aren’t you the best man alive at solving riddles” (Line 501). He even reminded Tiresias that he was the only man alive who managed to solve the riddle of the sphinx. However, there is no way he could have an answer to Tiresias’ puzzle. Despite having an extraordinary aptitude to answer riddles, Oedipus was not willing to accept the truth that he could be wrong and that he had fulfilled his fate unknowingly. Tiresias made it clear to him that he was the murderer he was looking for, but he never listened, all Oedipus did was to argue and insult Tiresias for telling the truth. He even went ahead to mock Tiresias for his blindness by even referring to him as a false prophet, yet he was the blind one who could not see the truth in what Tiresias was telling him. Moreover, his arrogance led him into accusing Tiresias and Creon of conspiring against him despite Tiresias making it clear that the person who murdered the king is the father and brother to his own children and the son to his wife, which describes Oedipus’ fate.
Finally, as the play ends, Oedipus now finds out the truth about the riddle when he is presented with evidence and he has to accept the destiny he was running away from. When Tiresias cracked the riddle, Oedipus could not solve it instantly because he had no knowledge about the truth. Later on, when Tiresias told him “I say that you slew the man whose slayer you seek” he started questioning about how King Laius died and demanded for a witness to be brought before him and this is when he realized that he was indeed the murderer he was looking for (479). Tiresias knew all along that Oedipus had killed King Laius, but because he was the king at that time, Tiresias feared to reveal the truth because of the consequences it could have to the kingdom.
Through Tiresias’ riddle, we learn that Oedipus was blind to his fate and the truth of life. It is evident that he wanted to know the truth about the death of King Laius, but again, his quest to know the truth also blinded him because despite Tiresias speaking the truth, he fails to believe him. His temper and blindness could not allow him to accept the truth from Tiresias and this is the reason he could not solve the puzzle. Oedipus wanted the blame of killing the king to be on another person and that is why he was outraged by the revelations and could not find the truth in it thus making it difficult to solve Tiresias puzzle, which was about his life.
In conclusion, in spite of having an exceptional ability to solve riddles, Oedipus could not solve Tiresias riddle. Oedipus lacked a clear understanding of what the riddle meant despite the fact that the riddle was about him. At that time of the riddle, Oedipus was still searching for his identity and so there is no way he could have known the answer to the riddle despite it being direct and obvious. Tiresias’ riddle was straightforward, but again, his pride let him down because Oedipus did not accept that he was wrong after Tiresias cracked the riddle. In all his life, Oedipus was known for solving puzzles and mysteries about many things. However, now that he was faced with a puzzle about himself, he could not solve it because of the arrogance that had kept him from knowing the truth about his life and how he murdered his father King Laius. If it were not for his pride and arrogance, Oedipus could have solved Tiresias’ riddle instantly.
Work Cited
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Translated by Robert Fagles. “Harcourt: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 2000.
