Author Question: How explicitly does the prophet Teiresias reveal the guilt of Oedipus? Doesit seem to you stupidity ... (Read 46 times)

RYAN BANYAN · **on:** Jul 20, 2018

How explicitly does the prophet Teiresias reveal the guilt of Oedipus? Doesit seem to you stupidity on the part of Oedipus or a defect in Sophocless play that the king takes so long to recognize his guilt and to admit to it?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

What features of daytime television dramas are spoofed in Soap Opera?

What will be an ideal response?

jgranad15 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

At lines 395396 Teiresias tells Oedipus, I say you are the murderer of the king / whose murderer you seek. It is difficult to imagine a more explicit revelation of Oedipuss guilt than this statement. It is, however, neither a testimony to the kings denseness nor a reflection of Sophocless inferior ability that it takes Oedipus so long to come to terms with his guilt. On the contrary, it is a testimony to the playwrights superior insight into human nature. Oedipus brushes aside this declaration as an ill-intentioned lie and accuses the prophet of plotting with Creon against him. What could be more characteristic of human nature than the desire to deflect bad news or evidence of ones own failings by impugning the source of the information? Even as the evidence piles up against him, Oedipus shields himself from the truth for as long as he can by clinging to one crucial point, the shepherds self-serving testimony that Laius was killed by a band of ruffians, not by one man.

Answer to Question 2

Some that might come to mind are the obsession with romance and the endless quest for true love and the self-absorption that such feelings can breed; the frequent changes of partners, often within the same small group of people; the resumption of relationships between previous partners; the overblown and melodramatic dialogue; the preoccupation with elegance and sophistication (the fancy French restaurant). No doubt some of your students will be able to think of others.