This study will explore how myth illuminates the theme of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. The play's theme is still debated to this day. Is Oedipus doomed because of his anger, pride, and obsessive need to find the truth? Or is he doomed because the gods decided before he was even born that he would live the tragic life he lived, including killing his father and marrying his mother? The position of this study will be that Oedipus was predestined to experience the tragedies of his life. The theme, therefore, carries the message that individuals are not free from their fates, but must come to accept whatever destiny has dealt them. The myths the play brings to life are ones which were well known in Oedipus' time. The myths can be seen as parts which form the life of Oedipus. As editors Roberts and Jacobs write, "The mythic material that Sophocles worked with . . . is the story of Oedipus---from the oracle delivered before the tragic hero's birth, to his ultimate expulsion from Thebes, and to his old age" (1054). The myths, then, were established before Sophocles wrote the play.
The myth which is expressed at the beginning of the play has to do with Oedipus being the only one who can save the city of Thebes from the plague. The plague is the result of a curse that has been put upon the city by the gods because the murderer of Laius has gone unpunished. The play from that point on is the story of Oedipus' detective work to find the murderer, not knowing that he himself is the killer.
This myth of Oedipus as savior of the city sets the action of the play in motion and leads to the discovery of the theme of Oedipus' tragic life. The theme, again, is that Oedipus was destined to live the life he led, in all its terrible tragedy. However, he would not have discovered that he himself was the murderer unless something happened which would set him on the road to that awful discovery. The priest's explanation to Oedipus is the action which...