A Letter To Oedipus

A Letter To Oedipus

Dear King Oedipus,

Hello, your majesty. My name is Lena, and I am a true citizen of Thebes. I have lived in this country practically all of my life. That is why I like to pay close attention to everything that happens here. I have done so. I know many things about you, probably even more than you are aware of yourself. No, I am not a spy, as you might think. It is just a coincidence that I happened to be in all of the places as you all the time.

I have seen you being carried by a Shepard when you were just a baby. You were brought to the country of Corinth where you were given to King Polybos and his wife. Since they could not have their own children, they were very happy to have you as their son. So were you, as you began to grow up. You loved your parents, but little did you know that they were not your true parents, your flesh and blood. So, when you heard a prophecy from the Oracle saying that some day you would marry your own mother, and kill your own father, you fled Corinth. You wanted to go as far away from Corinth as possible. You thought that by leaving Corinth, there was no way for the prophecy to ever come true. Your parents' lives would be spared.

Yet, the prophecy did come true, even though you were unaware of it. In case you do not know, this is how it happened. On your way to Thebes you passed a place where three highways met. There you killed a Shepard and a man who was actually King Laios of Thebes, your real, biological father. Little did you know of that. It is not like you to kill people. Madness and anger probably led you to do that. To go into Thebes, you had to answer a riddle posed to you by the Oracle. By answering the riddle correctly, you were crowned King of Thebes and married Iokaste. She was the wife of former King Laios of Thebes, and also your biological mother. Little did you know of that either.

Now living in Thebes, and ruling the country you still do not know who you are, where you come from, and who your parents are. I feel sorry for you. It must be hard not knowing your real parents or anything else about your life. Now, since I have filled you in on some of the details, you should be a bit relieved. What I do not understand though, is why you were so blind? Though not physically, you were still blind. All this time you did not realize what was happening right in front of your eyes. You were unable to put all the pieces together and solve the puzzle. This ended up ruining your life.

Once again whether you like it or not, the prophecy did come true. You killed your father, and married your mother, though unaware of it. I sympathize with you. I know that it must be hard to forgive yourself for what you have done. I would never be able to do that myself, if I was in your shoes. More than anything, you wanted the lives of your parents spared. But, in reality there was no avoiding it. I think that this prophecy was bound to happen no matter what. There was no way in going around it. You were unlucky and probably cursed by the gods. They had something against you, although I do not know what it is.

It is humanly impossible to turn back time. You probably wish that you could do that. Maybe then, none of this would have happened. But you have to face the facts. This is the real world. Today, many Theban children are dying, the land is bad, and labor is vain. The citizens of this country are unhappy. You have to pay be punished for what you have done. I do not think that you should be physically harmed. You have suffered enough already. My suggestion to you is as follows. Leave Thebes so that you will not cause any more harm to this country and its citizens. I am sorry, but that is the best thing. Everyone will be better off, including you. Go somewhere far away. Forget about everything that has happened to you. Start your life anew. You still have plenty more to experience in life.

Sincerely,

Lena

Written April 23, 2001 for a college literature class assignment...