Where Lies the Blame? In Sophoclese play Oedipus The King, the fate ofOedipus, the main character, was foretold at his birth that he would kill hisown father and marry his mother.
As a young adult, he went to see an oracleafter hearing rumors. The oracle told him of his foul fate and he ran awaytrying to escape the chances of this awful future unaware he running towardswhat he thought he would escape. Oedipus was partially responsible for hisdownfall because let curiosity lead him to the oracle where he found out hishorrifying fate, he killed his own father when he should have avoided killinganyone, and if he wanted to avoid marrying his mother, he should have nevermarried anyone older than he. After the birth of Oedipus, his parents Lias andJocasta, King and Queen of Thebes sentenced him to death because the oracle toldthem that he would kill his father and marry his mother. They were unaware ofthe fact that did not die, but was adopted by the king and queen of Corinth.
Oedipus was never informed that he was abandoned at a young age, found by ashepherd and adopted. One day while attending a dinner, a drunken man accusedhim of being a bastard. And I went at last to Pytho, though my parents didnot know. But Phoebus sent me home again unhonoured in what I came to learn, buthe foretold other and desperate horrors befall me, that I was fated to lie withmy mother, and show to daylight an accursed breed which men would not endure,and I was doomed to be the murderer of the father that begot me.
(1735,860-868) In utter fear of his newfound knowledge, he fled from Corinth to makesure to none of what the oracle said would come true. On his travel, he tooklittle precaution in the field ensure falsifying the oracles prediction. Demanding to know all details about King Lias death he was described the sitewhere three crossroads met. Upon being told this information, Oedipus recalledthe time when had just fled Corinth and came to a spot similar to the onedescribed. Being so distraught with fear and so overwhelmed with emotions, histhinking and reasoning was clearly impaired.
I was encountered by a heraldand a carriage with a man in itHe led the way and the old man himself wantedto thrust me out of the way by force. (1735, 878-882) The old man then struckOedipus on the head with a two-point goad. His impaired thinking angered him somuch, he attacked and killed everyone in the band of travelers, except for onesurvivor who managed to get away. If Oedipus was dead set on not letting thisprediction come true, he would have avoided any sort of conflict with any man.
It was a very stupid, impulsive move on his part because he let his confidenceoverride the fact that the gods had planned his life. What Oedipus was unawareof, was the fact that one of the predictions had already come true. He hadkilled a total stranger not thinking twice about the prediction. Now having onlyone prediction to contend with, he still did not take any precaution intoavoiding the prediction. After coming to Thebes and answering the Sphinxsriddles, he was granted kingship.
Since King Lias had just been murdered andQueen Jocasta was widowed, Oedipus married her unaware of his terrible mistake. Not thinking twice about the prediction after he ran away from Corinth, he led ahappy life and had four children with his mother. Again, Oedipus did nothing toprotect himself against the awful prediction believing he had already falsifiedthe gods prediction. When the townspeople came to Oedipus for help to get rid ofthe unknown plague sweeping through the city, he sought the help of his wife andmany others to help find the murderer of King Lias. All the information that wasgathered, he pieced together and finally made the realization he had been livingin a false reality that he had dodged the prediction entirely.
From thebeginning he was dead-set on dodging his fate, yet his ignorance got in the wayof reasoning. He did not think twice that he was dealing with the gods. Heshould have just lived with the fact that the prediction would come true andmake the best of it. He could have turned the
