Inevitable Fate?

As we all know, in “Oedipus Rex”, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. However, could the oracle’s prophecy ever be avoided if the right actions were taken from the beginning? Fate is all about the timing, and in this play, Oedipus finds out about his parents at the end. Keeping Oedipus would have actually been the better decision for the parents because it would have been unlikely for him to kill his father or marry his mother with the truth being known from the beginning. Of course, fate in this case does not work that way because the parents would not have even thought about this choice in the first place. Sending Oedipus away was thought to be a way to avoid the prophecy, but his parents was just following fate instead. Therefore, Oedipus could only play into the hands of the oracle.

I am also curious about Jokasta’s view on her new marriage. It seems like she already knew about marrying her son before Oedipus confirmed his suspicions with the messenger. It was also mentioned that there were scars on Oedipus’ feet from being pinned as a baby. Those scars are unique enough for Jokasta to possibly recognize as the result of pinned feet. Her early knowledge of Oedipus’ identity would also explain why she wanted to elude all the suspicions surrounding him.