Is King Oedipus a play about the search for identity?

“Born thus, I ask to be no other / Than that I am, and I will know who I am.” Although this may be interpreted as King Oedipus being a play about the search for identity, the plays complexity is also revealed in its underlying exploration of Divine Will vs. Human Will. In this fascinating, ingenious yet tragic play, Sophocles conveys his religious belief that man must know their limitations within the ‘cosmic order’, whilst accepting responsibility for their actions and the consequences which follow. The main character, Oedipus, finds in his search for identity, a catastrophic conclusion. This tragic downfall adds to the dramatic irony as it is impregnated with his own dangerous pride, willful blindness and an inability to accept Divine Will.

Oedipus’ search for identity was initiated through a riddle set by Apollo. “There is an unclean thing, / Born and nursed on our soil, polluting our soil, / Which must be driven away, not kept to destroy us.” Oedipus being renown...