Jocasta is a very important character because she is Oedipus mother and wife. Jocasta didn’t believe in the prophecy that was told by the Oracle she said 815 “do not concern yourself about this matter listen to me and learn that human beings have no part in the craft of prophecy”. when the messenger came by to bring to Oedipus that his father Polybus was dead he was relief because the prophecy didn’t come through, Polybus was his father after all and him dyeing of old age was a good thing. Oedipus fear mislead him
Why should man fear since chance is all in all for him, and he can clearly foreknow nothing?1101
Best to live lightly, as one can, unthinkingly. As to your mother’s marriage bed, —don’t fear it. Before this, in dreams too, as well as oracles, many a man has lain with his own mother. But he to whom such things are nothing bears his life most easily.1105
3 thoughts on “kathyann Myers, Oedipus the king week 7 !”
Hey there, Kathyann! fear is definitely a human experience and behavior. Sometimes doing things out of fear brings us closer to what we feared in the first place. This story is a great example of that. He tried so hard to avoid the prophecy coming to fruition that he left his home and his parents to keep from murdering his father and lying with his mother and living in shame. Just to find himself doing just that, unknowingly. Thank you for sharing!
Kathyann, thanks for starting things off again. It’s interesting how Jocasta tries to allay Oedipus’s fears. Her behavior to me is timeless too. She is like the people we all know who deny and try to avoid truth. It is almost as if she feels that if the truth stays covered, it does not exist. As the truth begins to creep closer, Jocasta tells Oedipus to leave it alone. She leads him to doubt the gods and the prophecies. I can’t really blame her for wanting to keep this truth hidden, but she definitely represents a very common form of human behavior.
Hey Kathyann, I totally agree with you that fear is one of the most experienced human emotions and behavior. In Oedipus’s case, he was always fearful that the prophecy would come true that he would kill his father unknowingly and marry his mother. I delve a little deeper into this aspect in my discussion saying that incest is one of society’s biggest taboos and that a person would never want that to happen. Along with that the fear of killing your own father which you mentioned is another fear that most people have since no one in the right mind would want to kill their parent.