The Guilt Of Oedipus The King
The scholar Vellacott writes on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex that “if [Oedipus] was to avoid heinous pollutions, he must make for himself two unreadable rules; never to kill an older man; and never to marry an older woman.” This is a highly unfair assessment of Oedipus’ character, and expects too much of any human. Oedipus’ innocence is shown in the fact that he was ignorant of his true origins, he was only human, and he was subject to fate. According to Polybus and Merope, Oedipus was their son. One cannot blame Oedipus for his misguided belief in his parentage, because he had no reason to question it. No blame should fall on Oedipus for not believing his parents, just as no blame would fall on anybody else for not trusting what was told to them by their mother or father. Based on Oedipus’ knowledge, that was limited by the actions of others, he was making the hard but honorable choice by leaving Corinth. He was willing to leave behind his royalty and become a beggar to spare his “parents” pain and suffering. In reality, blame would fall more appropriately on Polybus and Merope for lying to their son. If they had been honest with Oedipus,
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If we can conclude that all of Oedipus’ actions were predestined, then these rules would have no true effect at all. Oedipus might have accidentally or unknowingly killed Laius later in life. This would have been similar to the myth of Perseus, who fulfilled his prophecy by unknowingly hitting and killing his grandfather Acrisius with a discus. By this logic, the blame would fall solely on the gods and the Fates, and Oedipus is truly the hero of the play. He was willing to go against prophecy and fight courageously in the face of defeat. Many people challenge this saying that Oedipus had free will and his actions were all his own. This is contradicted by the fact that Teiresias prophesied the one action Oedipus believed he had control of; his blinding
If we can conclude that all of Oedipus’ actions were predestined, then these rules would have no true effect at all. Oedipus might have accidentally or unknowingly killed Laius later in life. This would have been similar to the myth of Perseus, who fulfilled his prophecy by unknowingly hitting and killing his grandfather Acrisius with a discus. By this logic, the blame would fall solely on the gods and the Fates, and Oedipus is truly the hero of the play. He was willing to go against prophecy and fight courageously in the face of defeat. Many people challenge this saying that Oedipus had free will and his actions were all his own. This is contradicted by the fact that Teiresias prophesied the one action Oedipus believed he had control of; his blinding