Oedipus the King by Sophocles was a play written after a devastating plague struck the city of Athens in 430 BC The play is about how knowledge can lead to devastation and destruction based on how the characters discover the truth about the Delphic Oracle. Years before Oedipus became king of Thebes, the previous king, Laius, had received a prophecy that his son would grow up to kill his father. With this information she gave her baby to a shepherd to get rid of him. Years later Laius is murdered and the Sphinx emerges and blocks the city, refusing to allow anyone to enter or exit the city unless they can solve its riddle. The city is essentially under siege. But no one knows the answer to his riddle. “What happens with all fours in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?” All those who try to answer the riddle are killed by the Sphinx until one day a stranger comes to the city. The Sphinx poses the riddle to him and he simply replies, "Man." The stranger solves the riddle and the Sphinx throws herself to her death. The city opens up to him, he marries the widowed queen, becomes king of Thebes and, despite himself, begins to fulfill much of the prophecy. What does sight and blindness mean to understanding Oedipus the King? But the reason why Oedipus, who is the prince of Corinth, came to Thebes is to escape his oracle. Before coming to Thebes he sought out the Delphic oracle to ask whether Polybus and Merope were his natural parents. The Delphic oracle replied: "You are destined to mate with your mother, you will give birth to a race of children that no man can bear to see: you will kill your father, he who gave you life!" With this information, Oedipus fled Corinth to escape... middle of paper... im. Oedipus continually longs for more knowledge and asks more questions to gain wisdom and ultimately this becomes his downfall. Knowing the future can destroy a man; and ruins the lives of two men in this story. Oedipus was blind to see the truth; he too was blinded by the prophecies. He ran away from home, killed his father, married his mother and had children with her. "But Oedipus' drama does not end with these lyrics; he gradually acquires new strength and new understanding" (Segal 133). And the real meaning of this story is that ignorance is bliss. Works Cited Knox, Bernard MW Oedipus at Thebes. New Haven: Yale UP. 1957.Rpt. In Oedipus Tyranmus. Ed. Lucy Berkowizs and Thedore F. Brunner. New York: Norton, 1970. 148-165Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyranmus: tragic heroism and the limits of knowledge. 2nd. Ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2001.