Was Oedipus responsible for his actions or was he fated by the gods and unable to escape his end?

Answer 1

By not returning to what he thinks is his hometown of Corinth subsequent Theban King Oedipus tries to defy fate. He learns from the Delphic Oracle that he's fated to kill his father and marry his mother. He thinks that Corinthian King Polybus and Queen Merope are his parents. So he decides not to get as far away as he can from his home and his fate.

But his defiance isn't successful. He heads from Delphi to Thebes. On the way, he kills a stranger who's old enough to be his father, and whom he resembles, in a street brawl over a crossroads right of way. Once in Thebes, he marries Theban Queen Jocasta, whose first husband never returns from a trip to Delphi, and who's old enough to be Oedipus' mother.

The irony lies in the fact that the stranger whom Oedipus kills is his real father. The grieving royal widow whom he marries is the wife of murdered Theban King Laius, and therefore Oedipus' mother. So it would have been far safer and happier for Oedipus to have gone back to Corinth and the foster parents that he never was fated to kill or to marry.

Answer 2

He ran away from home to prevent him from killing his father and marrying his mother. But it turned out that those weren't Oedipus' biological parents. He actually did kill his father and marry his mother.

Answer 3

Oedipus isn't responsible for his own downfall because his fate, like everyone else was predetermined. Everything that happened to Oedipus was controlled by prophecy. It was destined to happen.

Answer 4

Being killed, disappearing as part of a meal, missing out on proper funerary procedures, and perishing without establishing a family or learning his heritage are what would have happened to Oedipus if he had not solved the Sphinx's riddle in the play Oedipus Rex ("Oedipus the King"). The Sphinx threatened death and devourment to all who attempted to enter or leave Thebes without solving the riddle of four morning legs, two afternoon legs, and three evening legs.

Answer 5

Confront his presumed parents and refrain from killing or marrying his seniors are things that Oedipus can do to stop the chain of events in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus hears that his presumed parents are not his parents and then that he is fated to kill his father and marry his mother. He decides to escape his life, kill an older version of himself and marry a woman old enough to be his mother. Instead, he needs to confront his presumed parents and perhaps also get clearer answers from the Delphic oracle.

Answer 6

Yes and no, Oedipus is responsible for his actions in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.)

Specifically, Theban King Oedipus does not have intent and motive in regard to committing the crime of murder and engaging in the immoral behavior of incest. He does not know that his murder victim is his father. He likewise does not know that his wife is his mother. The only crime for which he therefore may be responsible is the killing in self-defense.

Answer 7

no because he didnt know that he killed his father. it was ironic

Answer 8

Oedipus could not have avoided his fate since the Fates predicted it and Fates see the future and it cannot be changed.