Oh Oedipus

After going through all the times when the word, “house”, is used in “Oedipus the King”, I came to a couple of conclusions. “House” primarily represents the family that inhabits the house. That is not particularly interesting. Normally. But what makes it so twisted is that Oedipus thinks all along that he has lived in legitimate “houses” with his true families. Au contraire. He grew up in a house with parents that were not his legitimate mother and father. Then, he saves over Thebes, becomes king, moves into the palace, hunkers down and starts a family. He is living a lie. His mother is his wife, his children are his brothers/sisters, and the only reason he is able to be the father of the house is because he murdered his father. “House” to most means shelter and safety. It means legitimacy, where one can be the most like oneself. Oedipus turns this soothing idea on its head. His houses have been one of the main causes of his demise. Houses (homes) have perpetuated the lies that make up the life and conflicts of Oedipus. Another ironic use of the world “house” is when resolute Oedipus talks about finding the murderer of Laius (which the reader soon learns is Oedipus himself). Oedipus says “Now my curse on the murderer. Whoever he is, /a lone man unknown in his crime/or one among many, let that man drag out/ his life is agony, step by painful step--/I curse myself as well… if by any chance/ he proves to be an intimate of our house, / here at my hearth, with my full knowledge,/may the curse I just called down on him strike me!” (172). This foreshadowing is incredibly painful. An intimate of Oedipus’s house? What is more intimate than Oedipus himself? He is unknowingly cursing himself and remarking on the falsity of his house, and therefore he is pointing out the falsity of his life.