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  • Essay / Oedipus the King: The pierced ankle in Oedipus the King

    The symbol of the pierced ankle in Oedipus the KingThe classification of Oedipus the King as a tragedy requires that it meet certain criteria relating to the main character, Oedipus. Oedipus must have no control over the situation he finds himself in, he must have been hurt by someone for doing nothing or for doing what is right, and he must come to an ending in which he is completely lost , or dies without resolving the situation. . These three criteria can be found represented under a symbol, and this symbol is the piercing of his ankles when he was a child. The first of the criteria, having no control over the situation he finds himself in, can be met in several situations, and is symbolized by the ankle piercing because he could not stop his father from piercing his ankles when he was a baby. Due to the Greeks' strong belief in a fixed destiny, the moment the seer told Oedipus' real father what was going to happen, his life was set in stone. Despite his best efforts, we know that Oedipus could not have avoided killing his father any more than he could breathe. It is an unconscious act that is controlled by a force that is not within one's realm of understanding or ability to stop or avoid it. Second, the criterion of having been injured through no fault of one's own is one of the major themes of the play. , and reiterated by Oedipus' ignorance of his own problem. Although his father may have had a reason to want Oedipus dead, after hearing what the mystic had to say about young Oedipus' future, it was not Oedipus's fault that he was destined to do what he was. Second example, when Oedipus actually kills his father, he is met at the crossroads and attacked by his father's men, through no fault of his own. Once again, this shows the symbolism of his ankles being pierced as a child, meeting the second of the three criteria. Ultimately, as in all Greek tragedies, Oedipus must meet an unfortunate end in which he dies, or is completely lost. The symbolism here under the ankle piercing is also the first step towards his bad ending, because if his father had not taken Oedipus into the woods to pierce him and then leave him to die, Oedipus would never have killed his father nor married his mother..