What do a Greek tragedy and a 20th-century work of philosophy have in common? At first glance, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus and Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations seem worlds apart. However, this lecture suggests that these authors are wrestling with a similar problem, though from different angles—one we might characterize as tragic, the other, comic. Both texts ultimately call for a reorientation toward the pursuit of knowledge, challenging us to reconsider what it truly means to know anything, especially ourselves.

Images: "The Blind Oedipus Commending his Children to the Gods," Bénigne Gagneraux, 1784 | Portrait of the philosopher Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (1889-1951) by Moritz Nähr, 1930.