Socrates View Of Wisdom In Oedipus

In Socrates’ view, wisdom entails the understanding of the self. An individual needs to be aware of their existence, own thoughts and feelings, as well as their environment, in order to be considered wise. From this perspective, Oedipus was everything but wise. He pride himself with his achievements, his knowledge and fame, yet was ignorant of so many things. His pride led him to believe he was knowledgeable, disregarded the information and warnings from others, and thought he could shape his own fate. He also blamed the gods for his tragedy, when his pride and ignorance were his greatest undoing. In his quest to prove that he was a good and wise king that was favored by the gods, he unknowingly cursed and sent himself to exile, met the end of his reign as king, and lost his sight. …show more content…
Unlike Oedipus, Socrates is humble and does not claim the knowledge of things that he is not aware of. In fact, he is surprised that the oracle considers him to be the wisest man in the land. From his investigations, Socrates discovers that many people, especially those who claim to be wise, hardly possess the wisdom that they profess. In the statement “For I am conscious that I am not at all wise, either much or little”, (Plato) he concludes that only those aware of their knowledge as well as ignorance can be considered wise. Such an acknowledgement of one’s ignorance requires humility that Oedipus