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Oedipus Rex: Oedipus Deserves His Fate - Online Term Papers

Oedipus Rex: Oedipus Deserves His Fate

Oedipus Rex, when broken down into its core ingredients, is a story of a man's dealing with his guilt at inadvertent murder of his father and incest with his mother.
Many people over the decades have thought that King Oedipus didn't deserve the troubles and misfortunes he encountered. It was believed that the god's predetermined people's lives, and it was unavoidable. Others thought that everyone had their specific place in life. They must die on their "appointed day," but whatever happened in between those two "fateful days" is up to their free will. It is the choices they make in their lifetime that determine their happiness.
In any case, Sophocles has provided a conclusive answer ...

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Others would argue that because Oedipus was a tyrannical ruler and didn't make the best choices in life, he deserved to suffer. E. R. Dodds states that, "Oedipus' behavior on the stage reveals the man he always was: he was punished for his basically unsound character." It was unavoidable and was his destiny to suffer in life. It was certainly not his fault that he reacted to his circumstances as he did.
One of the most outstanding examples of the god's predetermination, is when Oedipus recalls memories of his own childhood in Corinth when the oracle warns him that he will one day slay his father, and defile the bed of his mother. Oedipus tried to change his destiny, by running away from his adoptive parents, but instead, he runs into the very person, who he was trying so desperately to avoid in the first place, King Laios, his father. At the crossroads in Phokis, Laios' chariot driver tried to push Oedipus off the road. The driver pushed him to make him get out of the way, and ...

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Oedipus Rex: Oedipus Deserves His Fate. (2004, July 7). Retrieved January 18, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Oedipus-Rex-Oedipus-Deserves-His-Fate/10662

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 7/7/2004 12:09:42 PM
Category: Arts
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1105
Pages: 5

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