Oedipus the King would not have been successful throughout centuries as a tragic play if Oedipus were clearly responsible for his own tragedy. I attribute the play's ongoing success to Oedipus' innocence - or at least the debate over it - which immediately discredits any argument of his complete responsibility. I don't believe Sophocles would have even been moved to compose the story, least the audience been moved to praise it, and centuries later, students to study it, if it were simply a story of a criminal's rightful retribution. Sophocles himself believed Oedipus to be the innocent victim of a fateful tragedy, and built the play around this belief. Freud's summation of the story was a "Tragedy of destiny" and I believe Sophocles would agree. The story revolves around destiny, the resistance of people to it and the ultimate ending of Destiny persevering over all their attempts. Written...