In no way did I feel that Oedipus deserved the terrible tragedy which befell him. I pity Oedipus, for he seemed to be a well meaning and courageous, if slightly arrogant, man. It seems that his fate was certain and inescapable. However, I feel that it may have been the fact that he and his father both attempted to avoid their fate that caused it to occur as it did. I don't believe in fate, but I believe that if one believes something to be inevitable, as the Greeks believed, then it will be inevitable.

I personally can understand Tiresias's belief that Oedipus should have been spared the knowledge of his incest and patricide. Though in Oedipus's case, it was necessary for him to discover the truth in order to save the city from the plague, in other cases, there is often no good that comes from exposing the fact of incest if it has been committed accidentally. Incest is only disgusting and wrong because society says that it is so, not because it is inherently evil. It is only to prevent having genetically deformed children that society has made it so, and this was already not an issue in Oedipus's case. Had it not been for the plague, it would have been better to leave him in his ignorance.