Oedipus Essay

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The play “Oedipus Rex” is an interesting piece of literature. It is full of mystery right from the start. Oedipus is faced with trying to run away from his fate. Can one really control their own fate, though? Or does fate itself control an individual? That is the true mystery the reader must determine within the play.
The mystery of Oedipus is not one, but a couple of different things. The simple mystery is who killed King Laius? Oedipus goes out to find the king’s killer, so that the kingdom may be rid of a plague. The reader is aware that Oedipus is after all the killer, they see how his parents tried to avoid his fate then watched it all fall into place, but it still remains a mystery to all the characters, except for the prophet who told of Oedipus’ fate. The major mystery of Oedipus though, is indeed his fate. Does Oedipus control his fate or does it control him? It is told that the fate of Oedipus is to murder his father, marry his mother and be the father of his own siblings/children. His parents feared his fate when he was born and tried to kill him to avoid it. Then Oedipus himself tried to run away from his fate by going to Thebe’s. Little did he know he was unintentionally setting himself up for this disastrous fate. It seems as if Oedipus’ fate takes control of his life from the very start. His fate could be seen as unfair and undeserving as he was trying to do what he thought was honorable in leaving behind his family to save them, but only ended up doing what was intended of him in the first place.
Though finding the solution to this mystery with fate is a big deal, it is still not as important as the knowledge that is gained in the process. While trying to discover the unanswered questions to these mysteries, a larger knowledge is revealed. It is revealed to Oedipus that the man and woman who raised him are not his real parents, but he was left to die with his feet bound together and this couple found him and raised him as their own. He realizes that his fate had indeed been fulfilled. Oedipus could not control his fate and in his willingness to ignore the prophet, he was blinding himself to the truth. Having sight is used metaphorically for having knowledge and literally for having clear
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