Lessons and Insights

Hello!!! I posted the moral insights people can learn from reading this story even if it grosses all of us out. lol I found the story both intriguing and appalling at the same time but nevertheless it is still a masterpiece. :D

The moral of Oedipus Rex is not exactly that you can't outrun fate. This is oversimplifying things. Oedipus is the archetypal tragic hero who is helpless in the hands of Fate. Whatever he did, the outcome would always be the same. 

Every possible action would lead to him killing his father and sleeping with his mother. When he was first told about this in a prophecy, he decided to leave his city to avoid it (not knowing, of course that those were his adoptive parents). This action led him closer to his real parents, even though he was trying to avoid this. The moral of the story is that, you can't outrun Fate, and if you resist it it's a hubris (a sin and insult against the gods), but even though you may have a terrible Fate awaiting you, you always have to be strong and brave and honorable.

 It wasn't Oedipus' fault that he killed his father and slept with his mother. Sophocles doesn't want us to judge him for that, but pity him. This happened to Oedipus because of an ancient curse on his family for a crime committed by an ancestor. Oedipus actions, though show that he managed to remain honorable and brave through all of this. 

He was a brave man during his life, and a good king. When he found out the truth, he didn't commit suicide, like his mother did, but punished himself by plucking out his eyes. He left his kingdom and lived as a beggar in the mountain Cithaeron, so that his subjects wouldn't have to suffer because of his crimes and so that no one would be able to see his shame. 

He also left his children, because he didn't want them to live a cursed life in shame with him. In the sequel to Oedipus Rex, Oedipus in Colonus, Oedipus is absolved because of his honorable behaviour, his endurance and his stoicism during his ordeal.


The lesson is don't create bad karma by doing bad deeds. All the tragedy in Oedipus Rex is caused by Oedipus biological father, King Laius.

In his youth, Laius was a guest of King Pelops of Elis, and became the tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the king's sons, in chariot racing. He then violated the sacred laws of hospitality by abducting and raping Chrysippus, who according to some versions killed himself in shame. This cast a doom over him and his descendants.

So do you agree??