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That he will carry out execution or exile even if the guilty is found to be a member of the royal household is the vow that Oedipus makes and that eventually disproves him in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).

Specifically, the Delphic oracle advises that the pestilence in Thebes will end only with the identification and punishment by execution or exile of the guilty in Theban King Laius' murder. King Oedipus expands on divine will. He extends the punishment to those who have but do not share information and those who harbor or help the guilty. He makes the promise to carry the punishment out even if he finds the guilty to be a member of his own royal household. He turns out to be Laius' killer. His pronouncement wrenches from him all possibility of immunity or pardon for the extenuating circumstance of self-defense.

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13y ago

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