Is the truth always the right path? When is there a time when too much truth is revealed? In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is the tragic hero whose truth is revealed at considerable cost. His fight for the truth about what is happening in his kingdom has revealed that he has been the cause of the vast majority of suffering. After learning of Oedipus' actions, several situations occur. These situations exemplify the fact that the usefulness of the truth is subjective to the person facing it. Knowledge of a situation is not always a good thing, but in the case of Thebes it is not a bad thing. By gaining knowledge of Oedipus' past actions, the people of Thebes discover how to eliminate the plague. The severity of the plague is accurately summarized by the Priest of Zeus who says: "Thebes is dying, a blight on the fresh crops... women die in labor... The Black Death delights in the raw and plaintive miseries of Thebes" ( 33-8). . For this reason Oedipus sends Creon to Delphi for answers, and upon his return a solution is expressed: “Banish man, or repay blood with blood. The murder unleashes the storm of plague upon the city” (113-14). The people have found their answer, they find the killer and get rid of him. This way, everything will be fine. Oedipus discovers all the suffering he causes his people only by being in Thebes saying: "cursed are the lives that I have cut off with my hands" (1311). The truth has always been regarded as something a person should always know and be told. But how much of the truth is safe to tell to avoid the pain and agony it is bound to cause? The few viewers of Oedipus' past try to hide it, but the pull towards it is too strong and eventually spills out, causing distress to anyone who will listen. Tiresias is one of those men who... middle of paper... plucks out his eyes to never see again - in the darkness forever, where he used to enjoy life, but there is no more comfort for him in this. His daughters, young and innocent, suffer on a much greater level than anyone else. They experience a father who comes to them with bloody sockets for eyes, and a mother still warm in death. When Oedipus says goodbye he has nothing but pain to give them. “Where are the public meetings you can attend… What more misery could you ask for?” (1631-1639) Oedipus takes responsibility for being the cause of their suffering: “Your father killed his father, he sowed his mother, one, one and the same womb – he gave birth to you – he cut the very roots of its existence” (1640-1643). Although Oedipus was ignorant and unaware of the pain he was causing his family, he takes responsibility and in doing so demonstrates his integrity.