In the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Sophocles examines the idea of a just and proper ruler in the time of crisis

One of the common themes throughout Sophocles Oedipus Rex is King Oedipus’ willingness to ignore the truth even when it is staring him right in the face.  His refusal to be a part of the fate that the oracle prophesized to him was the reason he left Corinth for Thebes in the first place, so one can imagine his dismay and denial when the facts begin fall into place that he has murdered his own father.   When Oedipus and Jocasta begin to arrive at the truth about Laius’s murder, Oedipus fastens onto a detail in the hope of absolving himself. Jocasta says that she was told that Laius was killed by “strangers,” but Oedipus knows that he acted alone when he killed a man in similar circumstances.  He says, “You said that he reported it was brigands who killed the King.  If he speaks of ‘men’, it was not I; single men, and ‘men’, are not the same.  But if he says it was a traveler journeying alone, why then, the burden of the guilt must fall on me.”  This is an important moment because it calls into question the entire process of finding the truth that Oedipus believes himself to be undertaking.  Both Oedipus and Jocasta act as though the servant’s story, once spoken, is indisputable history. Neither can face the risk of what it would mean if the servant were wrong or misinformed. This is perhaps why Jocasta feels she can tell Oedipus of the prophecy that her son would kill his father, and Oedipus can tell her about the analogous prophecy given to him by an oracle, and neither feels compelled to talk about the coincidence.  Oedipus also hears the story of Jocasta binding her child’s ankles, and does not think of his own swollen feet.  She said “As for the child, it was not three days old When Laius fastened both its feet together and had it cast over a precipice.”  While the information in these speeches is largely intended to make the audience aware of the tragic irony, it also emphasizes just how desperately Oedipus and Jocasta do not want to speak the obvious truth: they look at the circumstances and details of everyday life and pretend not to see them.  Sophocles poses the question of whether it is more important to know the truth, no matter how gruesome it may be, or to be oblivious and naïve. Sophocles obviously thinks that knowing the truth is more valuable of a virtue even if it shows a person something that they do not wish to see.  Sophocles uses his King Oedipus’ vision as a metaphor that he eventually loses at the end of the play when he pokes his eyes out and blinds himself as he learns the truth that he murdered his father and slept with his mother:  the oracle’s prophecy did in fact come true.  King Oedipus explained why he blinded himself when he said, “It was Apollo, friends, Apollo.  He decreed that I should suffer what I suffer; but the hand that struck, alas!  Was my own, and not another’s.  For why should I have sight.  When sight of nothing could give me pleasure?” The point that Sophocles was trying to make was that rulers and leaders can have numerous good qualities, but in times of crisis, ignoring the truth or being oblivious to it will always lead to failure.  Oedipus refused to accept his truth until it was too late and it led to his downfall.

        A second theme throughout Oedipus Rex is King Oedipus’ limits in exercising his free will.  Prophecy was a huge part of ancient Greece and it was prevalent it Sophocles play.  The play began with Creon’s return from the oracle at Delphi, where he learned that the plague in Thebes would not be lifted until the man who murdered King Laius was brought to justice.  The prophet Tiresias prophesied that the murderer is one who is both father and brother to his own children.  Tiresias said, “Himself to be their father and their brother, the husband of the mother who gave him birth.”  Then, Oedipus told Jocasta of a prophecy he heard as a youth, that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, and they debate the extent to which prophecies should be believed at all.   One of Sophocles aims in examining the extent of free will of a ruler or leader is to justify the powers of the gods and prophets to show that fate will come into play and humans really have no free will.  Oedipus was presented with a series of choices throughout the play, and his arrogant and stubborn nature push him to thoughtlessly make the wrong decisions, the decisions that ultimately lead him to his downfall.  While Oedipus and those around him consider "fate" the source of Oedipus' problems, Oedipus' choices show the audience that it is he who is responsible. Sophocles is able to drive his message about the pitfalls of human arrogance through Oedipus' fatal flaws.  One of the clearest reasons Oedipus is responsible is that by the end of the play Oedipus has taken responsibility for his actions. Oedipus states, "Now am I god’s enemy, child of the guilty, and she that bore me has borne too my children; and if there is evil surpassing evil, that has come to Oedipus.” Oedipus plainly declares that he slept with his mother, and the responsibility belongs to him. Even though he may believe that this was his fate, he takes responsibility for fulfilling it. Oedipus has no difficulty in seeing the error of his ways by the end of the play, as he states, "and do not fear:  There is no man alive can bear this load of evil but me.”  Sophocles attempts to show human nature as flawed and arrogant and he used Oedipus’ choices throughout the play to illustrate this.  This flawed and arrogant human nature can be used to examine the idea of a just and proper ruler by revealing the fact that humans don’t control their fate and no matter what choice they make it is the will of the gods and the prophets.  It didn’t matter how many good characteristics that King Oedipus possessed, his fate was set by the gods and even if he didn’t make the wrong choices in the play, his destiny would have ended up in the very same place.

        In Sophocles play Oedipus Rex, he examines the idea of what a just and proper ruler is in a time of crisis and he uses two main themes throughout the play to do so.  Even though Oedipus has numerous admirable qualities such as candor, swiftness, just, and compassion, these are not all that ruler needs in a time of crisis.  Sophocles implies throughout the book that in a time of crisis a ruler needs to accept the truth as well as his destiny.  Ignoring the truth ultimately led to King Oedipus’ downfall even though his destiny was failure in the first place.