Order Obliterates Ignorance

Typically I think of order in a positive light. It is consistent, organized; safe. But in Oedipus Rex, order results in Oedipus’ banishment. Amidst the chaos and conflict within his kingdom, Oedipus’ true identity remains undiscovered, hidden among mistaken assumptions and lies. He unwittingly refers to his real history, one of incest and murder, when he assures Thebes that, “Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I” (Line 63). It is only after the puzzle pieces are sifted through and Oedipus’ jumbled past is reorganized that the truth emerges: his birth and existence are a sin, doomed from the beginning. He can longer claim that he is “a child of Luck; I can not be dishonored. Luck is my mother” (Lines 1025 – 1026), when ironically his own wife is his mother, and the blood on his hands belonged to his father.

At the same time however, thanks to order, Oedipus experiences redemption. He pays for the crime of incest and attempts to remove the curse that has fallen on his family and Thebes. Oedipus blinds himself, explaining with conviction, “How could I bear to see/ When all my sight was horror everywhere?” (Lines 1291-1292). He admirably abandons his home in order to “purge my father’s Thebes of the pollution of my living here” (Lines 1399-1400). Without knowing the truth, as woeful as it is, Oedipus may not have had the opportunity to correct his mistakes.

Despite the bleak future that lies before Oedipus, he is redeemed at the end. Originally, order results in a brutal sentence for Oedipus, stripping away his ignorance of the sinful life he had led; but the catharsis established after he atones for his wrongdoings demonstrates the positive aspect of order. Chaos may conceal the truth and protect us from reality, but order is necessary in order for us to understand our faults in order to fix them.