Oedipus vs. the Matrix

1295 Words6 Pages
Prophecy Would it be convenient to have someone who could foretell you’re fate? In both Oedipus Rex and The Matrix, the main characters consult with oracles to guide them on their journeys to self-development, and walk them down their path. Neo and Oedipus believe they know everything there is to about themselves, but later use the guide of their oracle to find out the whole truth. Oedipus from Tiresias and the Oracle of Delphi, and Neo from the Prophet he contacted in The Matrix. The main question that the characters should ask themselves is, would there still be such a miserable outcome if they hadn’t visited the oracles in the first place, and they were left unknown of their fate? In both of these characters stories, there is an extremely important key character, the teller of prophecies, their oracle. This is one who has the ability to give predictions and insight to their comers, guiding them toward a path on which they may learn about their true selves. Although it is for the best interest of our main characters to hear this prophecy, it may not necessarily be the thing that they want to hear. The Oracle presented in The Matrix is portrayed as a mysterious but powerful figure, incongruously depicted as a cheerful old lady who enjoys smoking cigarettes and baking cookies. A program designed to help ‘the One’ for the task appointed to him. The oracle feeds humans with superstition and hope for a better future, although she may not always give them their destiny on a shining plate, rather she guides them to discover it themselves “Try not to think of it as right or wrong, she is a guide Neo, she can help you find your path” (Oracle, The Matrix). Her powers of precognition seem to be unbelievably accurate. The oracle visited in Oedipus the King, is slightly different, despite the same task being at hand. She Is Pythia, the oracle of Delphi. She is also known as
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