Questions concerning Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King  by Sophocles is a great example of societal morality. The fates guide Oedipus to live his life: he is nothing but a slave to prophecy. That said, there are clear delineations as to what is wrong and right in the society to which Sophocles writes: ancient Greece.


Through the dialogue in the play, a modern reader can clearly determine what this society found immoral, and what they found perfectly normal and acceptable. This may help me answer my big question. The premise of the play is that Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother, unbeknownst to him. When he finds out about this mishap, he stabs his eyes out in shame.

Oedipus saw his actions as morally reprehensible, and therefore found crippling guilt in his actions and their repercussions. Therefore, we can determine that, to the Greeks, marrying one's mother was considered the ultimate  immorality. The play itself says nothing of this being repulsive, only noting its shame. In contemporary society, this is, without a doubt, a social faux pas. We can safely assume that this sense of moral has carried throughout the Western tradition, or else is fundamental to humankind. This gives us a link 

Oedipus also portrays regret and sorrow when he murdered his father: "With these hands of mine, these killer’s hands, I now contaminate the dead man’s bed. Am I not depraved?" Murder, it would seem, has always been immoral. At least, murder was both immoral in Sophocles's Greece and much of recorded history in most cultures. Does this mean that this sense of morality comes not from social code, but sprouts from deep within the human psyche? Perhaps, but we need more data than just simple correlation.

Onward to more questions.