Does Oedipus Deserve His Fate

Even though Oedipus the King makes his own choices, some of those choices lead up to the most tragic events in his life. After Oedipus learns what his fate is, he runs and tries to change it, but by doing this, he only brings himself closer to the truth. Some may say that Oedipus got everything that he deserved, and fate had nothing to with his outcome. Others may say that Oedipus created his own outcome by being an arrogant person and controlled his life and that fate had nothing to do with it. However, Oedipus the King is a victim of his own fate by killing his father, marrying his mother, and running away from the City of Thebes, because his needing to know the truth about himself was the cause of his tragic circumstances and his fate was sealed from the beginning. Before his birth, Oedipus was doomed because of the prophesies of the Oracle. He was never told about his past or who his real parents were. Oedipus learns from the Oracle that he will someday kill his father and marry his mother. Of course Oedipus does not believe it. After hearing this news, Oedipus goes to Thebes thinking he left his family behind. Oedipus's real father is the King of Thebes, which is where he is going. On his way to Thebes, he meets an old man on the road and kills him. This man was really Oedipus's father, but he does not know it.

He then marries the Queen of Thebes, Jocasta. What Oedipus really does not know is that Jocasta is his real mother. Oedipus finds out when Jocasta tells him a story about how one of her sons would kill his father and how and where it happened. Oedipus then realizes he had killed his father and is married to his mother. After Jocasta finds out that Oedipus is really her son, and that he was the one who killed her husband, she kills herself. Oedipus then blinds himself because he feels bad about what happened. It was too hard to live with the guilt of what he had