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kausik911
kausik911
Student
College - Junior

Does Teiresias help Oedipus attain wisdom in "Oedipus Rex"?

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Posted by kausik911 on Saturday September 20, 2008 at 2:00 AM and tagged with oedipus rex, oeidpus rex, teiresias, themes, wisdom.

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  1. robertwilliam

    eNotes Editor

    Well, Teiresias certainly doesn't encourage Oedipus to seek out the murderer, and thereby the knowledge that he has killed his father and married his mother. Teiresias counsels him to stop his search, and to leave well alone. Oedipus refuses.

    In this sense, you might say Teiresias is the opponent of knowledge. But are knowledge and wisdom the same thing? Does Oedipus learn from Teiresias that sometimes it's better to turn back? In both cases, not really.

    The answer to the question depends on what wisdom you think Oedipus attains by the end of the play, if any. Oedipus is often interpreted as learning the lesson that man is powerless, that things cannot be avoided if they are fated, that whenever you think you are sure of something, it is at that moment that you are most weak and vulnerable. None of these lessons come from Teiresias.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/oedipus-rex

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    Posted by robertwilliam on Saturday September 20, 2008 at 9:22 AM