Oedipus

Oedipus has an elevated way of speaking that emphasizes his nobility, but ultimately can do nothing to avoid his terrible destiny. His language doesn’t empower him in his arguments early on with Teiresias and Kreon. When he argues with Teiresias, he is immediately at a disadvantage, due to his lack of knowledge regarding his identity. With Kreon, his lack of evidence and hot anger in the face of Kreon’s cool logic causes his argument to pale in comparison. So the language available to Oedipus neither limits nor empowers him. However, a lack of communication throughout the entire play contributes to the circumstances that allow him to fulfill the prophecy. Had the servant sent to abandon Oedipus revealed the truth about Oedipus’s birth to the messenger who gave him to his adopted parents, then the messenger might have eventually shared this information with Oedipus. If the oracle had been a little more forthcoming and/or answered Oedipus’s initial question he might not have left Corinth. Nevertheless, Oedipus was fated, and would probably have fulfilled the prophecy anyway.