Oedipus vs. The Big Question

The Big Question: What is the importance of identity and the significance of losing or gaining an identity?


In Oedipus Rex, identity is a strong theme. The influence that identity holds over Oedipus and his fate is an almost perfect example of how completely connected an individual is to their identity and the identities of those around them. Oedipus becomes so intertwined in to false identity he was given as a baby and how he expands that identity through his own actions, that when his true identity is revealed his personal reality is completely challenged. Every action he has done is called into question and reevaluated with his new identity, resulting in Oedipus blinding himself and casting himself out of Thebes. His identity also influences those around him because when Jocasta learns his identity, she kills herself, and because of his accidental mistakes, his children are deprived of the life they would have lived. His attempts to fix the mistakes he has made are futile because his acquired identity has twisted itself into the identities of others also.

Oedipus also deals with conflict between his inherent identity and his acquired identity. His inherent identity is the one given to him by the profit at Delphi, that his fate is to kill his father and marry his mother. This conflicts with his acquired identity because he does not know his true parents and learns of his fate in a cryptic way, the profit does not tell him that the people he thinks are his parents are not, so he tries to change his fate. However, a person cannot flee their inherent identity and who they truly are.

Overall, I think that Oedipus' lead problems stem from his ignorance regarding his own identity and how the identity build for him conflicts so drastically with his inherent identity.

"Everybody's Changing"-Keane

"The Man Who Told Everything"-Doves