Oedipus, King of Thebes, world-famous, conceited and arrogant, is doomed to fall. It is prophesied that he will be the murderer of his father and will beget children with his mother. Yeah, disturbing but it happened. To his credit, Oedipus didn't know that it was his father he was killing or his mother that he was sleeping with, so he can claim ignorance. When he does find out, he is so ashamed that he stabs himself in the eyes and blinds himself. Slightly better than what his mother did, which was to hang herself. It is good to know that they at least have a sense of propriety and were ashamed of their actions.
To talk about the literature in the book, the main bit was the constant references to blindness. The prophet Tiresias was blind, yet he knew all that was happening and what was truth. He also stated that Oedipus, who probably had 20/20 vision, was the one who was blind. At the end, Oedipus does end up blinding himself. Obviously Socrates wants to make the point that you can have great vision, but can still be blind if you fail to miss what is right in front of you, whether it be real or figurative. The blind are the ones who don't know the truth.
Another good discussion our class had was about prophecies. Was Oedipus made to do the things he did because of the prophecy? Some people claim that if his father hadn't heard the prophecy, none of it would have happened. Laius wouldn't have had tried to have him killed, so he wouldn't have gone to Corinth. He then wouldn't have ended up meeting his father on the road to Thebes and seeing him as a stranger. He would have grown up knowing who his mother is so he wouldn't have slept with her. This makes sense, but my belief is that the prophecies just tell what is going to happen no matter what. Whether the prophecy was heard or not, Oedipus would have been the one to kill his father and for some reason have children with his mother. It would have happened one way or another and nothing was going to stop it, which is why the prophecy could be told; it was going to happen no matter what interference there was. That, at least, is my belief. I know others don't think this way.
That argument tends to lead to the question of whether we make our own decisions or if things are predestined. If there was no way for Oedipus to avoid what happened, then wouldn't that mean that he was predestined to do those things and didn't really have a choice? Yet again, I disagree. Oedipus made his decisions consciously. No one forced him to kill the stranger on the road. No one made him save Thebes, which resulted in his marrying Laius's wife. He very well could have chosen to do things differently, it's just that no matter what version of the situation he was put into, he would have chosen to kill his father and sleep with his mother. No matter what choices were given to him, he would have ended up choosing the same way in each one.
My happy conclusion: We are in control of our own lives. Whatever befalls you, it is not because there is some god out there that has it out for you, it is a direct result of your own choices. No one controls your life but you. Even as a Christian, I believe that God gives us free will, He just happens to know what we will choose and work with that to further His kingdom.
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