Judgment In Oedipus The King

Judgment is a main theme in the play King Oedipus by Sophocles, and throughout the play, this theme comes up repeatedly. Sophocles might also be said to be using this idea of judgment to reflect upon the society, of Sophocles, and even that of the modern day reader. This paper will show the 3 elements of judgment that is illustrated by the play and the various angles Sophocles attempts to address using King Oedipus as the tool.
The idea of judgment in the play is first portrayed as being a premature and faulty conclusion. This conclusion is arrived at from known information, true or false. Known information leading to the judgment made is portrayed in the play to be severely lacking or false at times, making it premature and faulty.
Judgment is also portrayed as being independent of the truth. Truth would be interpreted as the repository of information, where the whole content is often unknown to the characters in the play, with each of them knowing only a certain portion. Since judgment is arrived at from known information, which is not the entire repository of information, judgment is observed to be independent of the truth.
Additionally, the play illustrates how the judgment does not necessarily conform to the society’s notion of justice. Redressing a wrong …show more content…
Oedipus then proceeds to banish Creon from his kingdom. Judgment made is premature, since Oedipus did not get further information on Creon’s scheming activities. With the current information, and leaps in logical deduction, Oedipus passed his judgment. Additionally, the judgment is observed to be faulty, since Oedipus assumes that Teiresias was lying. Oedipus further builds on this faulty assumption and extends it: that Teiresias’ lie was done under the instigation and with the intention to further the interest of Creon. Such wrong assumptions and hastiness shows faulty and premature