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Truth. Oedipus may not want to accept it, but it’s true that truth is what this play is all about. For more on what Sophocles had to say on this theme, click on the video.

Video Transcription:

If you’ve watched all the Recaps leading up to this one, you’re probably tired of hearing me say this. But here I go again. One of the major aspects of this play—a theme, actually—has to do with truth.

The desire to avoid the truth—that’s the flamingly obvious theme in Oedipus.

What’s the truth that Oedipus wants to avoid? The truth about his history. He’s the son the prophecy foretold—the one who would kill his father and marry his mother.

It’s a disgusting truth to contemplate, so we can’t blame Oedipus for trying with all his might to deny it. We can almost forgive the fact that he calls Tiresias, the blind prophet who first alerts him to his murderous history, insane.

Unfortunately, Oedipus’s desire to avoid the truth only puts off the inevitable. And the tragic irony is that even as the facts are piling up against him, Oedipus can’t seem to make even the most obvious connections.

For example, Jocasta admits as early as Scene 2 that when her son was born, her husband pierced his ankles and left him on a barren mountainside. We audience members make the connection between the pierced ankles and Oedipus’s swollen feet. But does Oedipus? Of course not.

In other words, throughout this play, the desire to avoid the truth manifests itself this way: All along, Oedipus continues to look at the truth, but never to really see it.