Escape And Consequences Of Modern Society In Oedipus The King

“Oedipus Rex”, is an interesting piece of literature that links to the views and behaviors of modern society. Sophocles wrote the play as a method of providing morals to readers by demonstrating how our choices come with consequences. The major theme of Oedipus Rex is that humans are blind to the truth because we are afraid of facing and dealing with reality. While the truth can have a positive effect on our lives, it can just as easily have a negative effect. Some people are so used to having a perfect life, that when she begins to experience tragedy, she will resort to suicide to escape. Willingness to ignore the truth, the use of suicide to escape, and abuse of power are three themes from the play that highlight the prominent issues of modern society’s behavior and thinking. …show more content…
In modern society, individuals are so focused on themselves they begin to ignore all of their surroundings; for example, people are so absorbed in their phones, they do not look where they are going. Individuals also look down on people because they feel that they are superior to others; for example, some leaders of America ignore the needs of the poor, while they provide increasing benefits for the rich. Oedipus Rex is an example of an arrogant person who is blind to the truth and he tries to avoid the truth by leaving Corinth because his oracle tells him that he will kill his father and have children with his mother. Sophocles uses the horrific tragedy of Oedipus trying to blind himself, as a life lesson for readers: denying reality can lead to one’s downfall and failure. This situation also highlights the behavior of people in modern society: instead of coming up with solutions for our issues, we choose to run away and not deal with it. This shows how we rather live a lie than live a reality of life and