Linguistic Indeterminacy and the Crisis of Authority in Oedipus Rex

Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex has been a rich source for scholars, yielding various interpretations spanning centuries. This study examines the play as a case study of how interpretation and power intertwine. By placing the play within the modern crisis of interpretation, particularly interpretation as an instrument of power, this study enters into a dialogue with postmodernist critical thinkers, such as Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault. It positions the play as a tragedy of epistemic pride, in which Oedipus asserts his interpretative framework as superior to legitimize his authority. Oedipus rules not only politically but also semiotically. As ruler of Thebes, his authority transcends the usual forms to include interpretative authority. His downfall is caused by epistemic hubris—pride in his own intellectual power of interpretation. He fails to understand that the oracle does not conform to the normal communicative functions of language. The correspondence between signifiers and signifieds is undermined by the oracle’s multiple interpretations and uncertainty of meaning. Oedipus’s world is governed by linguistic indeterminacy and referential disintegration, and as such, the referentiality of language to the world is no longer reliable. Oedipus’s authority does produce the knowledge that ultimately solves the riddle of Laius’s murder. However, his tragedy lies in the realization that this knowledge counters his understanding of language, and thus, of the world around him. The knowledge produced through Oedipus’s power proves tragic. He ends up a second Teiresias, blind but not as wise.