The Punishment of Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

The Punishment of Oedipus the King         At the end of Sophocles Oedipus Rex, Oedipus, power of Thebes, ends up banished forever from his kingdom. Additionally, Oedipus physically borders out his own eyes, for several reasons which pull up stakes be discussed later. The question is Did Oedipus deserve his visitments? There are many factors that essential be considered in answering this, including how Oedipus himself felt about his situation. His blinding was as much symbolic as it was physical pain. After all factors endure been considered, I think that only Oedipus banishment was the necessary punishment..         It is important to clutches in mind the whole basic reasoning for Oedipus search for Laius killers he wished to put an end to a deadly plague, and that plague would only be deliverped when said murderer is  killed, or driven from the land (pp 4-5). Thusly, when it is revealed that Oedipus himself hit Lai us, then banishment seems to be the only option. Death, in my mind, is not legitimate simply because of what it might do to the kingdoms people. Even though it seems that Oedipus has not been a particularly good monarch, in fact his only major performance seems to be killing the Sphinx all those years ago, having a king put to death could have serious repercussions on the rest of the kingdom. So in the end, the only way to cure the plague and keep the kingdom stalls seems to be the banishment of Oedipus. In this case, the question of whether or not he deserved to be punished seems irrelevant Oedipus only goal was to stop the plague and by leaving, he has accomplished that goal. Banishment was the only choice.         besides what exactly was Oedipus being punished for? Even after re- reading the play, this palliate seems to be a gray area. Incest? Immoral, to be sure, but Oedipus was obviously base to his actions, and to my knowledge, in Sophoclean sequences, there was no written law against it and therefore no punishment for it. Oedipus punishment may have been for killing Laius, but how could you punish someone for being a victim of fate? Greeks believed at the time of the plays writing that a mans life was woven by the 3 fates (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos) and that he was