Yay or Nay to that of Oedipus?
Based on the first portion of the reading I seemed to not just agree with Oedipus on the majority of things but actually took a liking to the way he carried himself and how he ran his kingdom. However, if something seems too good to be true then all to often it turns out that way. I don't think scenario strays from this common opinion. Although I do not favor or support Oedipus any longer I do not think he is all of a sudden the bad guy. It's a two way street should he possibly be characterized as the "new" antagonist not just due to speaking lies, disgrace, and demeaning words to his people and to those close to him. (The main example being Creon), but because if these well-supported accusations are true then the previous antagonist, the killer, never changed. The antagonist was if anything then revealed as a specific character versus the more vague person he/she was described as. The way he handled the fact that he may very well be guilty of this haineous crime opened the possibility of my sympathizing slightly for him. Seriously, it was not his fault that "fate" chose to pick on him and place him with the wrong parents AND decide for him to kill off one of his real ones! Does FATE JUSTIFY murder?! I would like to point out the first thing that came to mind when "FATE" "JUSTICE" & a comparasion to the past and present was made: Religion. Then, "fate" was 99.9% of the time (based on my current knowledge) linked/caused to/by the God's. Would that mean Oedipus might actually be considered innocent or even pitied by his people now? After all, he "Followed orders of the Gods" in a way ; a way he could very well use to his advantage should the accusations turn out to be verified (as I have a funny feeling they will). Then nowadays, religion, STILL a highly controversial topic alone becomes all the more when falling in play with the law. Might have something to do with the fact that I am painfully agnostic but would it not be simple to make up something like "The God's told me to!" if you did something wrong? Could that not have been used in a case such as Oedipus' or in a current day situation? It might not necessarily be the God(s) you use as your alibi/justification but perhaps another religious figure. Tossing religion aside in Oedipus' predicament and the increased possibilities that lie in his hands to worm his way out of something he very well might have done, I STILL emphasize. He comes of as genuinely freaked out about the fact that he might have not just killed his real father but a KING, the KING before he got to take over. Maybe there is more good in him than many might have thought after reading this section. I am however, NOT impressed by how terrible he all of a sudden chose to handle difficulties as soon as they started to hit him in the face. I am disappointed by the big change he went through initially going from handling everything so admirably to making me want to just knock.him.out should I have been Creon. Then again, Creon probably wouldn't whack the King but errr...nevermind. The part that he switched from being appreciated and supported from my end to getting me ticked off at him, his ignorant, close-minded, insaneness sticks out the most to me. I am just realizing how complex of a character he truly is. The beyond freaky family tree romance aspect tossed aside with the family troubles that went on before then, emotionally you can't really peg him as anything specifically yet. He's sort of just as confused as we are at this point!
-Emilie(:
Good to see you were able to get past 300 words...
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