Family secrets are generally bad, but if they were known could people possibly make different choices in life? In the story of Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ entire life is build around so-called “family secrets”. In the end of his misguided choices which result from his lack of knowledge of his heritage lead to the development of his character and his tragic fall. The development of Oedipus’ character is essentially lead by a family secret. A secret can misguide our lives; it can mix up our identities and mold them into something we would not normally be. Also this clouds his mind and makes it difficult to make clear choices. [Evan Imber-Black pg2] Oedipus’ character is filled with fear and pride. The fear of Oedipus is fuelled by the frightening possibility of the prophecy being fulfilled. This makes him feel like the only option is to run away from his problems. After running, Oedipus is left feeling like he has forgotten his problems behind him and there is nothing that will be able to stop him so his pride starts to swell. Oedipus’ pride is starting to grow is because he has become a great king and feels like the prophecy is long gone. Problems within the city begin to arise at Oedipus’ feet he is lost in what actions he should take because he is blind to the truth, because he is the problem. When Oedipus seeks help through is pride he lashes out at Tiresias because in Oedipus’ mind the prophecy has been avoided. In the end Oedipus’ fear and pride could have been minor or not at all if he had known the truth about his heritage. The beginning of Oedipus’ tragic fall starts before he has even risen to be a king because at birth Oedipus’ origin is being hid from him, a situation which in time creates the reason for his choices. Oedipus is only running from the truth, the only truth he knows, the prophecy of killing his father and marring his mother. If Oedipus at the beginning was told who his real father is Oedipus would have possibly stayed in Corinth and not been running from his problems in the first place. Also if Oedipus would have not been running away from his problems he would not have been traveling and came across the crossroads where Oedipus kills his father.
Not knowing or knowing a deep family secret can affect the choices we make. Fear, dimidiation, and pride can form from not knowing certain pieces of information and mislead our character. [Evan Imber-Black pg2] Oedipus from the beginning was misleading, in this he makes his own mistakes which lead to his tragic fall. When Oedipus makes the choice to run, he believes he is making the right decision based on the information he knows to be the truth. If the truth was known from the beginning Oedipus would have gone down a different path and not been in the dark his entire life.
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