Was Oedipus Aware Of The Past

There is a lot of controversy about whether or not Oedipus was aware of his past, and who he was from the very beginning of the play. Oedipus was simply full of pride, and chose to ignore the obvious evidence that pointed him to be Laius’s killer. Oedipus was ignorant and arrogant, and not smart enough kill his father, marry his mother, and keep it all from the Kingdom of Thebes.
There were many times in the play when Oedipus was given information that he could have used to piece together the fact that the prophecy had come true, and he blatantly chose to ignore this information. “…. we seem to have access to reality but choose to ignore it because it proves convenient to do so.” (Steiner), Oedipus didn’t want to accept the obvious fact in front of him, because knowing the truth would not have been beneficial for him and his standing as King of Thebes. For example, when Teiresias told Oedipus he was Laius’s killer, instead of thinking that it may true, he automatically accuses somebody of setting him up. Oedipus’s pride and curiosity are what led to his eventual peripeteia. …show more content…
The quotes, “It was the driver that thrust me aside, and him I struck. For I was angry. The old man saw it, leaning from the carriage…. And every man of them there I killed” and “Or rather during his action its meaning, unknown to him without his having anything to do with it, reversed itself” (Vernant) show that Oedipus did not know that simply protecting himself would lead to parricide and incest. Although Oedipus is not an innocent man, he was clueless at this moment, and did not know what the consequences of his actions would