According to Oedipus, Apollo ordained his agonies: foretelling in the oracle to Laius that his son would kill him, and the second oracle to himself that he'd kill his father and marry his mother. The Chorus say he would be better off dead.
Why did he blind himself instead of taking his life?

• So he would not have to see his children/siblings
• So he would not have to face his parents in the underworld
• So he wouldn't have to see his fellow Thebans