Hello all, this is Angry Tofu speaking. In my English class we just finished reading the play "Oedipus Rex" (yes, that class does seem to be a never-ending stream of works all mentioning Theseus, ruler of Athens. Has anyone else noticed that?). In case you're not familiar with the play, it was written by Sophocles in Ancient Greece in something-something B.C. The basic plot is that a king and a queen received an oracle that their son would be fated to kill the king and then marry his mother, the queen. When they had a son, the king and queen left him on a hillside to die. At the start of the play we meet the full-grown Oedipus, who has obviously survived, and is married to Queen Jocasta and together they rule the city of Thebes. As the play progresses we find out that Oedipus has indeed fulfilled the prophecy. Jocasta turns out to be his mother, and her first husband, now dead, was Oedipus' father.
Weird, right? Well, despite the creepiness of the whole plot, that isn't the point. The point is that a person cannot outrun their fate, even if they think they already have. However, I think that Sophocles was wrong. People can outrun their fate! Here's how: don't marry people who are twice your age while also not knowing a single thing about their past. There. Done. Fate avoided.
See, halfway through the play we realize that Jocasta doesn't even know a thing about Oedipus' life before he came to Thebes. If she had just asked she would have put together, or at least had a suspicion that the marriage was a bad idea. I think a mentor relationship between Jocasta and Oedipus would have been a better idea. Much less drama that way.
Look, here are some danger-zone celebrity couples:
1. Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart: 22 year difference
Prognosis: Possibly her dad
2. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas: 25 year difference
Prognosis: Probably her dad
3. Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn: 35 year difference
Prognosis: He is her dad
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