ignorant oedipus
... by Apollo, Oedipus does what he can to avoid the future. He unselfishly leaves Corinth, the only home he has known, and his loving parents Polybus and Merope. “So for years I’ve given Corinth a wide birth” (1093). However it is strange that Oedipus did not even trust himself the not kill and marry who he believed to be his father and mother. Ironically if Oedipus had stayed in Corinth he would never have had the fatal run in with Laius at the crossroads. It was here were Oedipus and Laius had a confrontation and Oedipus defended himself against attack, “I paid him back with interest” (896). Oedipus shows his great temper to fight back so violently as to kill “ them all-every mother’s son!” (898). However, was it Oedipus’s temper that killed Laius and his servants, or was it Oedipus’s destiny to kill his father? Perhaps if it was another stranger Oedipus might not have killed in self-defense. With half of the prophecy fulfilled, Oedipus’s travels lead him to Thebes where he is to become a hero. The Gods sent the Sphinx that terrorizes Thebes as punishment to Laius and his people for the rape of Chrysippus. Oedipus defeats the Sphinx, saves the city, and is made King. Fate, it can be argued, is to blame for Jocasta and Oedipus meeting. If Laius had not earned his curse, Oedipus would have never been the hero of Thebes and made king. Oedipus would not have been able to meet the Queen if he were just a traveler to the country. The only reason Oedipus is attracted to his mother in the first place is that she appears far younger than she actually is. Jocasta earlier makes a deal with one of the gods to retain her youthful image. It is unlikely that Oedipus would even go for an older queen; he probably would have taken a younger wife being a famous king. At some point Jocasta would have had to lie to Oedipus about her age, or the deal she made with the gods? That topic would have surely come up and Jocasta would be misleading him to her past. It is also difficult to believe that nobody in Thebes realizes that Jocasta does not age. Maybe her brother, Creon...