What does Oedipus teach us in 'Oedipus Rex'?

Answer 1

Getting your facts straight, looking before you leap and not allowing yourself to get out of control are what Oedipus teaches us in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, Oedipus receives an unenviable prophecy and runs away instead of verifying the facts behind the the dreaded prediction. Despite the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, he proceeds to kill a stranger whom he resembles and who is old enough to be his father. He then marries a woman old enough to be his mother. Additionally, he knows that his wife's first husband dies under mysterious circumstances, but does nothing to carry out mandatory cleansing rituals. Finally, when his past catches up with him, Oedipus gets into a fight with his brother-in-law Creon, his councillor Teiresias the blind prophet, and the two witnesses to his parentage. Because he applies no brakes to his words, thoughts and deeds, Oedipus ends up friendless, homeless, jobless and sightless.