Oedipus killed a man, and although he was unaware of his identity at the time, it could still be argued that he is not innocent because he was aware that a prophecy existed and would not have had to kill anyone. In the context of the Ancient Greek audience, his act was justifiable, however when reading this work in a modern context one must consider the culture of violence in Ancient Greece that could condone such an act. Oedipus' act at the beginning of the play of cursing whoever was Laius' murderer to "consume his life / in misery to a miserable fate!" (248-249) in cursing Laius' murderer, he cursed himself and it could be argued that by casting this curse, he somehow brought all the tragedy upon himself at the end of the play. Jocasta is also not entirely innocent as she attempted to kill her son, which would have cleared her of any guilt regarding the prophecy, but for human morality it raises more questions, and in attempting to kill her son to prevent the prophecy she would challenge the gods, which has no positive