The Downfall of Oedipus

In most Greek myths, there is usually a story behind why terrible accidents are happening

and why the Gods are targeting somebody with tragedies. Alternatively, in Oedipus the King,

there is no apparent reason why the Oracle involves Oedipus and leads him on a trail of

misfortunes. Some say it is to illustrate that the Gods had superiority over the mortals; others

might argue that Oedipus somehow offended the Gods, and this was their “payback” on him.

This leads to the ongoing argument about Oedipus living a life of fate, or in due course dooming

himself. Even though the Oracle warned Oedipus of his inevitable fate as a murderer to his father

and incest with his mother, in the end Oedipus ultimately dooms himself.

To start with, one could argue that Oedipus brought his downfall upon himself by

running away from Corinth after a drunken man tells him he is a bastard child and going to the

Oracle to learn the truth. The Oracle tells him that he will kill his father and lay with his mother,

so Oedipus, thinking that Polybus and Merobe are his real parents, flees from Corinth and goes

to Thebes. Instead of fleeing Corinth, Oedipus could have confronted Polybus and Merobe and

asked if he was truly a bastard child. If he would have asked them, then he would have learned

the story of how he was adopted and how Merobe and Polybus are not his real parents and this

would have prevented him from completing the Oracle. Instead, Oedipus acts impetuously, and

got himself into more trouble than what was needed to begin with.

Next, Oedipus dooms himself by killing his father, Lauis, and laying with his

mother, Jocasta, and therefore completing the Oracle. When Oedipus learns that he will kill his

father and lay with his mother from the Delphic Oracle and flees to Thebes, he meets a king in a

coach at a crossroad on the way to Thebes. He gets driven off the road, and becomes angered and

kills