Truth is a concept that is valued the world over, and especially here in the United States of America. Americans believe that the truth has the power to set one free. Our government was created to protect the public from tyrannical rulers, and based on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The judicial branch of our government and indeed the entire legal system is the best example of how important truth and justice are to this great nation. Sophocles' Oedipus the King teaches readers something quite different, however. In Oedipus the King, readers are led to see that the truth that would set Oedipus free is the truth that ultimately leads him to great suffering.
Truth, most certainly, serves a traumatic downturn for Oedipus. Oedipus could have lived happily assuming the throne of a deceased King, indeed he would have been heir to the throne of Thebes if he hadn't been banished from Thebes at birth. Being King, though bearing great responsibility, is also a seat of wealth and splendor; it was good to be king. The truth that bound Oedipus' feet at birth also binds him to a life of darkness, of blindness, and self-torture through the end of his days. The truth in Oedipus' life seems to be a bind in parallel to the way his feet were bound as an infant. Oedipus at birth was destined to "Kill his father and marry his mother,"" so the King and Queen of Thebes had him sent away, his feet bound, to be left in a field to his certain death. But the messenger instead gave the sad baby Oedipus to a shepherd he met. The shepherd in turn gave baby Oedipus to the King and Queen of Corinth. Oedipus grew up in Corinth and was much adored by these parents whose fates were tainted by adopting Oedipus. One fateful day it was prophesied that Oedipus would one day "Make love with his mother, and shed his father's blood by his own hands."" Oedipus, loving his parents very much, quickly ran away to protect them from himself.