Justice in Oedipus the King :: Oedipus Rex Essays

Justice in Oedipus the queen regnant        After reading Oedipus the King, one may think that in this story, there was no justice, and cryptograph could avoid their fate.  King Laius and Queen Jocasta, fearing the prophecy of the Delphic oracle, had the young Oedipus left on Mount Cithaeron to die, but the father dies and the son marries the mother anyway. Oedipus, seemingly a good person, also tries to avoid the second prophecy, only to fulfill the first.  But even through all this, I have done some inquiry and feel that there was justice in Oedipus, The King, and their fate wasnt completely sealed.        First, the murder of King Laius.  Laius seemed to die a unwarranted death, but he was not needs in complete innocence, for he had done some malicious things earlier in his life, such as the attempted murder of his son, Oedipus, and the kidnapping and rape of Chrysippus,  a young man Laius fell in love with be fore Jocasta.  And Oedipus wasnt as guilty chthonian ancient Greek law as he is under our modern laws.  It was every Greeks duty to harm his/her enemies, and as far as Oedipus knew, King Laius was an enemy.        Queen Jocasta wasnt exactly guiltless, either.  The great Queen had also tried with King Laius to kill their son, and had no respect for the prophecies of Apollo  A prophet?  Listen to me and learn some peace of mind  no skill in the world, zip fastener world can penetrate the future.  She was also the other half of a mother-son marriage.   Greek law considered the act, not the motive - meaning that even though she nor Oedipus knew they were related, they committed the crime.        Finally, Oedipuss guilt.  In some ways, Oedipus was the most guilty of them all.  Consider his hubris.  He regarded himself as almost a god, assuming that since he alone had solved the sphinxs r iddle, he was the one of the gods favorites.  He was very quick to judge, and judged on the most flimsy of evidence.  He calls on Tiresias to tell him what he should do, and when he doesnt like what he hears, Oedipus says, Your words are nothing - futile, and