Oedipus

Oedipus The Guilt of Oedipus When reading Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, many controversial topics are presented throughout the entire piece. The major controversy in this play is whether or not Oedipus is responsible for his fate. After carefully examining this play, Oedipus is clearly not to blame for his tragic fate because the Gods had already predetermined his fate before the play even begins. Other reasons that he is not to blame are that his parents sent him to be killed as a young child and the shepherds did not kill him as they were ordered to. Throughout this paper, these arguments, along with excerpts from the play, will be used to defend Oedipus’ honor. The first point, and probably the most important one, is that before the play even begins, Oedipus’ fate is predetermined from the Gods. Apollo is the God that made the prophecy that eventually would come true. The prophecy made is clearly explained by Oedipus, towards the middle of the play: Apollo told me once—it is my fate— I must make love with my own mother, shed my father’s blood with my own hands. (1090-1092) This prophecy condemned Oedipus from his birth. This prophecy oedipus, prophecy, parents, blame, true, point, killed, fate, real, play, oedipus’, shepherds, polybus, father, because, should, shepherd, laius, king, gods, come, told, son, sent, predetermined, own, killing, kill, jocasta, child, before, ankles, wrong, wife, throughout