Oedipus Rex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Oedipus Rex - Essay Example However, since he was predestined, one can argue that it was meant to happen, thus he was never guilty. As in the play, we see that there is freewill. It could be noted that Oedipus could pass the fight off when he was hit by the chariot instead of killing the man (who happened to be his father) but there was still the factor of predestination. He was meant to kill the King and was meant to marry his mother. There are options in which he can actually escape his fate but can’t because, you can’t escape fate. His sins two greatest sins are killing his father and marrying his mother. In present times, that is called parricide and incest. As far as we are concerned, he was provoked by the man in the chariot so that his actions can be named as defensive, even if he killed his father. The man also did not know that he hit his son and turned aggressive. So even if parricide was done, Oedipus is still innocent because it can be said that he is doing self defense. He is also inn ocent when he married his mother because he did not know that it was his mother! He was adopted and he did not know who his real parents were. If this were to happen these times, it would have to be socially sanctioned too, but not to the point where they would self-mutilate themselves (Oedipus blinding himself) or commit suicide because of humiliation.