Oidipous seems to imply that he is in possession of an “identifying mark” (σύμβολον) that can aid him in tracking down Laios’ killer. Does he mean the one bit of information given by the sole survivor? If so, then he is not on the right track, because that information is false. The verb “track,” however, once again depicts him as a tracker who stands in the very tracks he needs to follow. He is the “Know-A-Foot” who does not know his own feet, even though they are marked by a literal σύμβολον—the scars that presumably have been on his ankles for as long as he can remember. Just as Odysseus’ scar allows positive identification by his old nurse after an absence of twenty years, Oidipous’s scars can be expected to enable his identification. The problem appears to be that he lacks the mental apparatus that would enable him to read the marks on his own body. One obvious block to successfully tracking Laios’ killer is the overwhelming power of his own assumption that he himself cannot be the guilty party. His belief in his own ability to get to the bottom of a problem based solely on key signs is another problem; more is required than he can be expected to deliver. [Mpea]
Lines 222-232
[Oidipous] Now, since I’m accounted (albeit recently) a citizen, 134
Before all you Kadmos’ folk I do thus declare:
Whosoever among you knows by what man
Laios, Labdakus’ son, was killed,
I order him to point it all to me.135
And if perchance in fear he pulls the charge
Back from himself, he’ll suffer no
Discomfort other than to leave this land unharmed. 136
If, on the other hand, somebody knows the doer of the deed
To be of some other country, 137 let him not
Keep silent, for I myself shall see
To his reward,138 and gratitude awaits him.139