What would have been the best thing for Oedipus to do onve he learned his destiny, do you beliee fleeing was part of his destiny or would it have come true anyway? What is the author trying to reveal about destiny?
I think that the best thing for Oedipus to do once he learned his destiny was to just ignore it. If he wouldn't have paid attention to it, it might not have come true. If he truly wanted to avoid it, he shouldn't have married at all or he should have just not killed anyone. This way there would be no way that the prophecy would have come true. I don't think that fleeing was part of his destiny. The author was trying to convey that trying to avoid your destiny leads to more suffering along the path to your destiny; letting life go on without paying attention to prophecies might make the prophecy not come to pass. Your destiny will only come true from trying to avoid it.
Sophocles reveals that fate cannot be avoided. With this play, he shows how different people have tried to avoid this prophecy in different manners, and in the end it still came out to be true. Fleeing was not necessarily part of Oedipus' destiny, it was just how it came to be. His actions did not play a role in the outcome. No matter what had occurred, the prophecy would have still been revealed. There was no correct thing for Oedipus to do once he learned his destiny. In the end, it would have still hurt him as much, and result in him blinding himself. Ignoring it would not have made the situation any better.
I think it is interesting that Manali pointed out that if Oedipus really didn't want the prophecy to come true, he could have just never married anyone, and never killed anyone. While it is possible that he may have accidentally killed someone, it is rather hard to accidentally marry someone. I think that in this case, Oedipus takes a chance with murdering a man and marrying a woman because he thinks he has outsmarted the prophecy and the gods by avoiding his mother and father. However, with this situation, Sophocles could be showing his audience that a man cannot outsmart the gods, because he ended up fulfilling the prophecy anyhow.
I think that the best thing for Oedipus to do once he learned his destiny was to just ignore it. If he wouldn't have paid attention to it, it might not have come true. If he truly wanted to avoid it, he shouldn't have married at all or he should have just not killed anyone. This way there would be no way that the prophecy would have come true. I don't think that fleeing was part of his destiny. The author was trying to convey that trying to avoid your destiny leads to more suffering along the path to your destiny; letting life go on without paying attention to prophecies might make the prophecy not come to pass. Your destiny will only come true from trying to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteSophocles reveals that fate cannot be avoided. With this play, he shows how different people have tried to avoid this prophecy in different manners, and in the end it still came out to be true. Fleeing was not necessarily part of Oedipus' destiny, it was just how it came to be. His actions did not play a role in the outcome. No matter what had occurred, the prophecy would have still been revealed. There was no correct thing for Oedipus to do once he learned his destiny. In the end, it would have still hurt him as much, and result in him blinding himself. Ignoring it would not have made the situation any better.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that Manali pointed out that if Oedipus really didn't want the prophecy to come true, he could have just never married anyone, and never killed anyone. While it is possible that he may have accidentally killed someone, it is rather hard to accidentally marry someone. I think that in this case, Oedipus takes a chance with murdering a man and marrying a woman because he thinks he has outsmarted the prophecy and the gods by avoiding his mother and father. However, with this situation, Sophocles could be showing his audience that a man cannot outsmart the gods, because he ended up fulfilling the prophecy anyhow.
ReplyDelete