Oedipus: Immoral or Fated?

Are the ideals of right and wrong universal or situational? Does Oedipus not being able to control his fate make the things that he does wrong? Does this make him immoral? Sleeping with one’s mother and killing one’s father would be considered universally wrong, but because Oedipus is fated to do so is it still wrong? If someone cannot control their fate is what they end up doing wrong? Then comes the idea of trying to fight one’s fate. Oedipus’ parents as well as Oedipus try to fight their fate and in doing so, set their fate into action. They see their fate as wrong and therefore trying to fight it sets it in action and they end up doing things that would be considered “wrong?” Must we then look at them as moral characters because they have tried to do the “right thing” and failed or is what they have done simply wrong? The choragus seems to believe that he should not be pitied, “Let every man in mankind’s frailty/ Consider his last day.” This thought seems to echo that people are tied to their fate and nothing they can do will change that. Whether they fight their fate or not does not affect the fate because they are pre-destined to do so and therefore will end up with their fate anyway. This brings up the idea of having one character flaw. As Aristotle pointed out, it is Oedipus’ hubris which “does him in” and sets his fate in motion. Which then makes him do “wrong” things. Can doing a thing so horrid truly be blamed on a character flaw as Aristotle thinks? It seems that Oedipus is otherwise a good person. He truly cares about the people he rules, “I have sent Kreon… to learn there… what act of mine might save the city.” He truly wishes do all that is in his power to stop the plague. He is not entirely bad and this is what makes him a tragic hero. So, if Oedipus trying to change his fate makes him wrong, or having a single character flaw makes him wrong, then it seems that everyone at some point is wrong, it simply is not in our fate to become incestuous murders. It was in his. Therefore Oedipus is not immoral, he is simply fated.

The image above would be one of Oedipus. As the one in class did, this one makes his blood appear to be tear-like. I liked this because it is less stereotypical of a picture of Oedipus. It does not show any human features; therefore it only represents the story behind Oedipus. The crown is exactly as long as the face because his hubris and his nobleness are equally part of his character as his downfall is. The bandage concealing the face seem to represent his shame and horror which has taken place in his life.

The First Ideas

If a man stole all of your belongings and you find him is it right to then take all of his belongings as well? When there are no technical rules what becomes correct? Where is the line drawn? If there is no longer any food in the world, is it acceptable to eat people? How does society, or a lack thereof, shape one’s understanding of what is right and wrong?
In our society we seem to have decided what is right and wrong. Is it right for some people to spend hundreds of dollars on a single meal while others die of hunger? In The Road Cormac McCarthy strips down everything which has been created by society to reveal, at its finest and worst, human nature. Throughout the book, the nameless main characters refer to each other as “the good guys.” They don’t eat people. They do things which may not be considered right in our society today, however the reader views them as the most moral in the story. Other characters have turned to cannibalism, forming gangs, and taking slaves.
When there is no longer society it is up to the individual human being to decide what is right and wrong.
In America prostitution is frowned up and illegal. In Japan it is largely accepted and illegal. Sometimes what the government says is illegal is still acceptable. So what makes society in general decide if something is wrong? The Dave Matthews Band has a song which states “Funny the way it is, if you think about it. One kid walks ten miles to school and another’s dropping out. Funny the way it is, not right or wrong.” Maybe sometimes the things that we cannot control are not right or wrong but simply are. Is watching a crime happen and not doing anything about it as bad as committing the crime? Is not doing a good deed as bad as doing a bad deed?
In Government we are learning about the different types of democracy and how there is no perfect way to have a society. There is no perfect way to agree on what is right and wrong then. Maybe anything is justifiable if the situation is right. It may be up an individual to decide what is right or wrong with the opinion of society or without it. Maybe we should all try to be the one moral “good guy” in our society and do things that we see as right even if doing the opposite is not punishable?