Is Oedipus Responsible?

Is Oedipus Responsible?
In Oedipus Rex, all of Oedipus’ complications were an effect of his own actions. It all commenced when the Oracle at Delphi announced to Oedipus that he was destined to murder his father and marry his mother. He made the decision to escape the life he knew to prevent this fortune from ensuing. He was not aware that by doing so he was empowering the prediction to occur and entering face first into his destiny of tragedy. When all is said and done, Oedipus was blind and convicted for the death of the king of Thebes. Although Oedipus was ignorant to the truths around him and was not conscious of the path he was embracing, Oedipus was required to take responsibility for his actions and choices.
Oedipus’ first mistake was not inquiring who awarded him life. “A drunkard in his cups brawled out, ‘Aha! Sham father’s son!’” (Roche 53-54). Oedipus had discovered rumors that the people he recognized to be his birth parents were not. He had an intuitive feeling that the rumors were true, but he foolishly did not take make an effort to uncover the truth. Even when the oracle revealed to Oedipus his fate, he did not question who exactly his parents were. Oedipus assumed it was referring to the people he considered his parents, his adoptive parents in Corinth. To avoid fulfilling the prophecy, Oedipus abandoned his home. He did not comprehend that by fleeing he would collide with his birth parents, Laius and Jocasta, making the prophecy possible.
In the process of embarking from home, Oedipus encountered his birth father without realizing it, and murdered him. “For in a thrice this hand of mine had felled him with a stick and rolled him from the chariot stunned. I killed them all,” (Roche 55). Because of the words of the oracle, Laius and Jocasta shipped Oedipus away from Thebes. It was also the mentality Oedipus had for leaving Corinth, in the direction of Thebes. During his travel, Laius and his company attempted to drive Oedipus off the road,...