Is Oedipus Innocent Or Guilty

Oedipus Innocent or Guilty

In Oedipus Rex Sophocles expresses that it is possible to see but still be blind by having oedipus try to get around his fate, but by doing so he walks right into it. Oedipus rex was a tragedy written by Sophocles, a Greek playwright. In Oedipus Rex the main character, Oedipus is trying to avoid his fate “That i was doomed to marry with my mother/and shed my father’s blood with these my hands.” (961-62) . The problem is Oedipus does not know the truth about himself because he does not know who his real family is. So is Oedipus innocent or guilty? He is innocent because he does not know he is doing anything wrong and is trying to not let his terrible fate play out.

Some people try to take their fate into their own hands to avoid a negative event that they have been warned may happen. Oedipus does this by planning to leave his mother and father, Polybus and

What Oedipus does not know is that Polybus and Merope are not his birth parents he learns this from the messenger when they speak after Polybus’ death saying “Oed. how can they be, if I were born their son?/Mess. Because there is none of Polybus’ blood in you.” (981-83), Laius and Jocasta the rulers of Thebes are. So when Oedipus left Corinth and started his Journey to Thebes he killed a man who, unknown to him, was Laius his birth father. When he got to Thebes he defeated the Sphinx by solving her riddle and because he did that he was rewarded with Jocasta’s hand in marriage and place as king in Thebes. In the story it is