Where Lies the Blame? In Sophoclese’ play “Oedipus The King”, the fate of
Oedipus, the main character, was foretold at his birth that he would kill his
own father and marry his mother. As a young adult, he went to see an oracle
after hearing rumors. The oracle told him of his foul fate and he ran away
trying to escape the chances of this awful future unaware he running towards
what he thought he would escape. Oedipus was partially responsible for his
downfall because let curiosity lead him to the oracle where he found out his
horrifying fate, he killed his own father when he should have avoided killing
anyone, and if he wanted to avoid marrying his mother, he should have never
married anyone older than he. After the birth of Oedipus, his parents Lias and
Jocasta, King and Queen of Thebes sentenced him to death because the oracle told
them that he would kill his father and marry his mother. They were unaware of
the 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 a
shepherd and adopted. One day while attending a dinner, a drunken man accused
him of being a bastard. “And I went at last to Pytho, though my parents did
not know. But Phoebus sent me home again unhonoured in what I came to learn, but
he foretold other and desperate horrors befall me, that I was fated to lie with
my 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 make
sure to none of what the oracle said would come true. On his travel, he took
little precaution in the field ensure falsifying the oracle’s prediction.
Demanding to know all details about King Lias’ death he was described the site
where three crossroads met. Upon being told this information, Oedipus recalled
the time when had just fled Corinth and came to a spot similar to the one
described. Being so distraught with fear and so overwhelmed with emotions, his
thinking and reasoning was clearly impaired. “…I was encountered by a herald
and a carriage with a man in it…He led the way and the old man himself wanted
to thrust me out of the way by force.”(1735, 878-882) The old man then struck
Oedipus on the head with a two-point goad. His impaired thinking angered him so
much, he attacked and killed everyone in the band of travelers, except for one
survivor who managed to get away. If Oedipus was dead set on not letting this
prediction 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 confidence
override the fact that the gods had planned his life. What Oedipus was unaware
of, was the fact that one of the predictions had already come true. He had
killed a total stranger not thinking twice about the prediction. Now having only
one prediction to contend with, he still did not take any precaution into
avoiding the prediction. After coming to Thebes and answering the Sphinx’s
riddles, he was granted kingship. Since King Lias had just been murdered and
Queen 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 a
happy life and had four children with his mother. Again, Oedipus did nothing to
protect himself against the awful prediction believing he had already falsified
the gods prediction. When the townspeople came to Oedipus for help to get rid of
the unknown plague sweeping through the city, he sought the help of his wife and
many others to help find the murderer of King Lias. All the information that was
gathered, he pieced together and finally made the realization he had been living
in a false reality that he had dodged the prediction entirely. From the
beginning he was dead-set on dodging his fate, yet his ignorance got in the way
of reasoning. He did not think twice that he was dealing with the gods. He
should have just lived with the fact that the prediction would come true and
make the best of it. He could have turned the bad into good somehow, but decided
he could escape anything and trick the gods. Obviously Oedipus was not fully
responsible for the outcome and not lacking blame, but was partially to blame
because of his faulty decision making.