Luke Romano

The True Villain of Oedipus

Today in class, I posed in interesting question that sparked a very interesting conversation. "Who was the true villain in Oedipus the King"? Now, the obvious answer would be Oedipus, I mean, he killed his dad then took his mom from his father. There can't much worse than that, really. My idea that it was fate, but how can fate be considered as a "bad guy" when it isn't even human? So as my last option I resorted to the gods, the people who have the power to change what will happen, but choose not. So, I chose to think that the gods were the villain, the ones who made everything in the world happen and chose to make Oedipus kill his dad and marry and bed with his mother. All sounding pretty malevolent. So today in class, I came up with an answer, a true answer, something I actually put some thought into. I don't think there was any true villain in Oedipus the King. Yes, people did nasty things. But it was nothing that they could control. A probable refute to that statement would be, "But can't the gods control everything and even fate?" This got me thinking even more and gave me the idea of what fate really is. And I came to this conclusion. I believe that fate is out of the hands of everyone, even the gods. No one escapes fate. The gods and Tiresias were able to see fate, but they were not able to change it. No one has that power, and no one will ever deserve to have such a power. So the gods are like people that see our world through a TV and we are the rerun of an episode that they have already seen. They know what happens and they cant change it because it is predestined for the characters. Oedipus is meant to get discarded, he is meant to be saved, he is meant to kill his own father, and he is meant to bed with his mom. And he couldn't have saved it. Even if Oedipus wasn't discarded, just like Final Destination, fate will find it's way. So when a villain needs to be chosen there can be no one to blame for the unfortunate circumstances that fate put them in. It was going to always be that way no matter what. Just like Romeo explained it they are, "Fortune's fools". 

Oedipus The King and the Oedipus Complex
by Cynthia Loh

                                                 
Oedipus The King by Sophocles is definitely one of the most disturbing and frightening plays I have ever read. Despite it's creepiness and unsettling plot, this was my favorite play I have read for school.

(Basically my spark notes version of Oedipus the King)
Oedipus is the king of a land who is faced with a plague and the only way to end the disease is to banish or kill the man who murdered the former king. Oedipus calls for the blind oracle Teiresias to figure out who the killer is to make an end to plague in his land. Refusing to answer Oedipus' question of who the killer is, claiming how it will only cause Oedipus grief and pain, Oedipus becomes enraged. Initiating an argument with Teiresias, Oedipus learns from the blind oracle that he is the slayer of the former king. After lots of insults and assumptions, Teiresias leaves Oedipus believing that Teiresias lied to him and that the oracle is working with Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law, in order to take the throne. However, this is false. In a conversation with Jocasta, it is made known to the readers that in the past, Oedipus learns that he is fated to kill his father and sleep with his mother. After hearing of his horrible destiny, Oedipus runs away from Corinth, his home country, and ends up in Thebes. He does admit when he arrived he was attacked by a group of people and killed them all but he is doubtful that it was the former king. After a series of meetings and interrogations, Oedipus finds out that he is adopted and that the people who raised him are not his birth parents. Oedipus was given away when he was a baby and was given to a herdsman who was instructed to kill him. The herdsman then continues to say that he received the baby from Jocasta. Oedipus learns that Jocasta and her former husband who was the former king is his parents. Jocasta overhears the conversation and kills herself. When Oedipus finds her body he gauges out his eyeballs with his bare hands. He says goodbye to the four children he created with his own mother and banishes himself away to live in solitude.

This book proposes the Oedipus Complex, also known as the Electra Complex, which state that a child unconsciously has sexual desires toward their parent of the opposite sex. As ridiculous as this sounds, many psychologists believe this to be true. After searching the web, I have found forums where people with this complex can post about their situations. Once I finished laughing my head off, I noticed that so many more people actually have and admit to having the Oedipus complex. Although the psychologists call for very young children to go through this, many people in a range of ages has this complex. I found people from their teens all the way to people in their sixties having the Oedipus Complex. There are many different scenarios and feelings each person has. One teenage girl ranted about how much she hated her mother because she loved her father. Another person in their forties talked about how she recently in an affair with her godfather who is about 20 years older than her and married. Many talked about how they gained romantic feelings for an absentee parent or when their parents were divorced. However, they all were very grossly disturbing.