Oedipus Rex

“My Children...” and so Oedipus Rex begins, a fatherly opening to a father so utterly doomed. Oedipus Rex is a play that delves into the powers of fate and the demands of destiny. Oedipus fails to shirk away from the truth and enlightenment seasons his downfall. He is a fated man, and no act of kindliness or understanding can save him; there exists no redemption. This play embodies an interesting idea of predestination and the lack of control.

But even in this world, where an individual can not absolve himself, do there exist moments of always?

The potency of the unwritten law seems absolute. Oedipus could not avoid his fate and his desire to eradicate his own ignorance, in a sense defining his humanity, disallows him from living in the dark. In the end his path may appear to hold little relevance; the end is both predictable and easily understood. And yet, the importance of this play lies in the how. And it is here that the absolutes dissipate.

Oedipus exercises power over his people and he lives contently for a time. This may mock his ultimate ending but this happiness is something. He maintains his morality and lives justly in most respects. This heroism, denoting a tragic hero, challenges the rigidity of his future.
But the actions after discovering this absolute are really what mold the flexibility of the play. Jocasta commits suicide, a gruesome end where she can ultimately apply power over her own fate. Oedipus blinds himself. This may appear as an escape from the ensuing visual horrors, but in reality it accentuates the shocking pain that requires no sight. It is an act of redemption, in a place where redemption is impossible. But perhaps the effort is all. And it is all his own.

In Oedipus the future may be absolute. But so is the past. And Oedipus's non-predetermined actions of the present sculpt this past.