The narrative about king Oedipus is a Grecian myth that has been told since the fifth century B.C. Oedipus was a boy born to king Laius and queen Jocasta of Thebes. Before he was born, his parents sought the intercession of the Oracle of Delphi after along delay for a kid in their matrimony. The Oracle prophesied that they will hold a kid and if the kid is boy, he will kill his male parent Laius and get married his female parent Jocasta. Equally shortly as Oedipus was born, his male parent male monarch Laius pinned his legs together doing swelling that prevented him from walking therefore the name Oedipus from the Greek word “ hydrops ” intending swelling. The male monarch so gave his boy off to a retainer to dump him to the mountains so that he dies due to cold conditions and non unrecorded to carry through the Oracle ‘s prognostication.
The servant alternatively, gave the male child ( Oedipus ) off to a shepherd from a adjacent province Corinth. The shepherd so presented the immature Oedipus to childless male monarch Polybus and queen Merope of Corinth. The two raised Oedipus as their ain. Old ages subsequently, Oedipus heard from person that king Polybus and queen Merope were non his existent parents and when asked the two denied it. It is in this respect that Oedipus decides to confer with the Oracle of Delphi about his true parents. The Prophet does non unwrap the true individuality of his parents but affirms that he is destined to kill his male parent and get married the female parent.
Oedipus is stunned by the Oracle ‘s sentiments and decides non to return to Corinth and caputs to Thebes, his topographic point of birth. Along the manner he comes across a topographic point where three roads run into and brushs caravan lead by his ( biological male parent ) male monarch Laius. Since none of the two is willing to pave manner for the other, they engage in a battle that ends with Oedipus killing king Laius carry throughing portion of the Oracle ‘s prognostication.
Oedipus continues with his journey to Thebes and on the manner he meets a sphinx that demanded an reply to a conundrum as gate base on balls to Thebes. Oedipus is asked to give an reply to “ to that which walks on 4s in the forenoon, two in the afternoon and three at dark ” . Oedipus ‘ reply is adult male. He crawls on 4s when he is still immature, walks on two legs during maturity and uses a walking stick as an assistance to his walking during his sundown yearss. The reply is right and Oedipus is let into Thebes, enthroned male monarch and presented with Jocasta ( his biological female parent ) a widow, to get married. Oedipus accepts her manus in matrimony carry throughing the staying portion of the prognostication. The queen dullard two boies ( Eteocles and Polynices ) and two girls ( Antigone and Ismene ) . Old ages subsequently, Thebes is struck by unprodutivity doing drouth, hungriness, and barrenness to adult females. The reply to this is that king Laius ‘ liquidator has to be found, killed or exiled. An inquest is launched to happen the slayer. The slayer is revealed by the blind prophesier Tiresias. The prophesier identifies Oedipus the slayer through experiencing the Markss of his legs. The queen Jocasta, on hearing this, she hangs herself while king Oedipus overwhelmed by his actions, agonizes and dents out his eyes.
Discussion
This classical narrative amounts up rather clearly that adult male can non get away his destiny or fate. Man ‘s fate is believed to be in the custodies of a higher being ; a supernatural being and an effort to contend or rectify one ‘s fate is deemed as an act of perpetrating wickedness or an act of blasphemy. It ‘s considered as an effort to travel against the authorization of the supernatural being hence pulling wrath from the supernatural being. In king Oedipus mythology, both male parent and boy tried to happen a manner out of their quandary but ended up being punished. King Laius clipped his boy ‘s legs and left him in the mountains to decease in an effort prevent his boy Oedipus from killing him as earlier prophesied. This did non work out as the boy found safety in another topographic point and came back to kill him. Oedipus besides tried to forestall his destiny from go oning by traveling to Thebes to avoid killing his male parent ( king Polybus ) and in the procedure, he murders his biological male parent male monarch Laius ( unwittingly ) and marries his female parent Jocasta therefore carry throughing the earlier prognostication by the prophet of Delphi. It ‘s the fright of what life had in shop for them that drove both male parent and boy to travel to such highs of seeking to rectify their fate.
Oedipus was predestined to kill his male parent and get married his female parent, but before the prognostication came to go through, he sought ways of forestalling it from go oning. He set out to happen out about his true individuality and when he fought and killed his male parent, so married the female parent ; he was perfectly in the dark about who his parents were. Thus his actions can non be deemed every bit immoral as he was in the procedure of happening out his beginning. This can be confirmed by the fact that when the prophet of Delphi revealed to him that he will kill his male parent and get married his female parent, he did non travel back to Corinth because he did n’t desire carry through this prognostication because harmonizing to him, king Polybus and queen Merope of Corinth were his existent parents and hence he chooses to travel to Thebes. Later on, as the male monarch of Thebes, he is relieved when intelligence about the death of king Polybus of Corinth reaches him ; that he was non the 1 who killed his male parent ( king Polybus ) .
Therefore, king Oedipus is non immoral as he was wholly in the dark refering his line of descent. Indeed he is wholly overwhelmed by what he had done and he decides to distressingly force out out his eyes.
