What does the prophet Tiresias mean when he says to Oedipus This day Essay

What does the prophet Tiresias mean when he says to Oedipus This day will bring your birth and your destruction - Essay Example er, asked the prophet for clarification; and that is when Teiresias proclaimed: â€Å"This day shall be thy birth-day, and thy grave† – therefore, I presumed that the phrase referred to Oedipus discovery of who his real parents are. Of course, this seems pretty much obvious as we know how the tragedy ends, and even if we had not read it we all certainly heard about Oedipus complex that the psychoanalysts describe as the man’s (boy’s) desire to perform incest with his mother and to emiminate (i.e. â€Å"kill†) his father. However, although the â€Å"grave† (or â€Å"desctruction†) part of the prophecy is pretty clear, why is Teiresias speaking about the â€Å"birth†, and which is more – why is he putting the two notions together and linking them, how can they happen on the same day, and how are they interrelated? This is the issue I am going to speculate upon in this paper. First of all, I strongly believe that the words of Teiresias the prophet â€Å"This day shall be thy birth-day, and thy grave† can, and should, be viewed in at least two different contexts: (1) the exact and direct meaning of these words with regard to the plot of Sophocle’s tragedy and (2) the meaning of this phrase in the context of Sophocle’s philosophy and his views on the issues of power of fortune and human choice. The direct meaning of the prophet’s words is more obvious. As we can further see from the tragedy’s plot, the same day when Oedipus got to know his real parentage brought his destruction: hence, the â€Å"birth† and the â€Å"grave† happened simultaneously. The concept of â€Å"birth†, however, can also be regarded in its figurative meaning – since by discovering the person guilty of Laius’ death the King of Thebes was supposed to regain and strengthen his authority among the citizens. These last lines of the choir in Sophocle’s tragedy symbolize that Oedipus’ destiny is by no means unique, and that pretty much any human being can experience the same