Shortly after he was born, and long before the play began, Oedipus was sent away because of a prophecy that he would one day kill his father. Later, when he learned of the prophecy, he left his foster parents’ house. At each step, the attempt to perpetuate something is the act that initiates its downfall. Our endings, we must discover, are often brought about by the very acts and words that we believed would keep things the way they have always been.
