Does Oedipus Deserve What Happened To Him

To what extent do you think Oedipus deserved what happened to him, and does he deserve our sympathy?

It is debatable as to whether Oedipus deserved what happened to him at the end of the play, some would argue that Oedipus did deserve his fate by the end; however, in my opinion Oedipus did not deserve what happened to him because he was doing his job as king and trying to save his people from the plague.

Firstly, Oedipus deserved what happened to him at the end of the play because, while it may appear to be a good quality for a leader, he asked too many questions; even when there were warning signs for him to stop his investigation for Laius’ murderer, Oedipus persisted and eventually caused his own downfall. This shows that Oedipus deserved what happened to him because if he had asked fewer questions, he would not have discovered the truth, and he would not have had the same fate. However, in my opinion, the fact that he asked so many questions showed that Oedipus did not deserve the fate he received. This is because Oedipus only asked so many questions in order to discover the source of the plague and end it. Therefore, Oedipus’ questions present him as a good leader, which did not deserve a bad fate, as he was doing
This is evident as because, although what he was doing was a good deed for the Theban people, it had disastrous effects on Oedipus, showing that even good actions led to Oedipus’ eventual fate. However, once again it is evident that if Oedipus “let sleeping dogs lie”, he may not have been exiled, as his fate was to kill his father and marry his mother, but it was Oedipus’ actions that led to him being blinded and exiled, for he could not give up his