Sexual Normality In Oedipus

Of course, a family should be many things. Family members should love each other, but there are rules to the relationships the family members have with one another. Two of the jobs parents undertake are as teachers and caregivers—they should teach their children how to act and care for them to ensure they reach independence. In turn, the children will pass on their knowledge, ensuring each generation knows what—and what not—to do. Louis Greenberg explains Foucault 's idea that "the traditional family…[is] the place where the "truth of sex" is confessed, aberrance monitored and dissuaded, and sexual normality is taught" (165). "Sexual normality" encompasses many things, but the key normality we need to look at is the normality of sexual relations with family members—the taboo of incest. Incest is one of

The tragedy of the play is Oedipus ' family, and it all started with King Laius. The gods cursed Laius so that his son would kill him and then sleep with his wife. Laius then endeavoured to have his son killed, but rather than doing it himself, he handed the boy off to a shepherd, who then passed the boy onto Polybus and Merope of Corinth. Had Laius not tried to kill his son, he and his family could have lived their lives without worry. There are those who would argue that fate would still have made the prophesised events occur, but I do not believe this to be true. Without going too much into the fate versus free will debate, it is clear in the play that the events occur not because fate made them happen, but because each character made decisions that ended up fulfilling the prophecy. Bernard Knox explains that a hero must have free will and "that he is in some way responsible for what happens to him" (149). Fate does not control each character, but each character does make choices based on what they perceive to be their