Free Will Oedipus The King

Another sign that Oedipus had no free will throughout the play, are the number of failed attempts at stopping the prophecies from happening, starting with Laios. Laios tries to get rid of his son so he won’t be murdered by him. His plan fails however when his wife gives the baby to a shepherd. The shepherd decides to give the baby to a king from another country, believing that this will keep the baby as far away as possible from Thebes and Laios. This backfires however. By not being with his true family, Oedipus questions his parents and seeks out an oracle. This oracle of course, tells him of the prophecy. And, because Oedipus does not know he is adopted and does not wish to kill his own father or wed his mother, he leaves the one place he

He was blind to the fact that he was fulfilling the prophecy until it was revealed to him. Everything Oedipus did was manifestations of fate. His belief in oracles and gods later on made him fearful of his fate, although he didn’t believed in gods before realizing his uncontrollable fate. In ancient Greece, gods played important roles and no human could challenge them. Fate was uncontrollable and man’s predestined actions also becomes part of their fate. Oedipus pride and free will couldn’t help him to avoid the prophecy. “My birth all sprung revealed from those it never should, myself entwined with those I never could And I the killer of those I never would” (pg.). After killing his father he started to realize the prophecy has become true and fate is unavoidable.

Oedipus is a play written by Greek playwright, Sophocles. The play revolves around the protagonist and eventual king of Thebes, Oedipus. Oedipus is rid of by his legitimate parents, Jocasta and king of Thebes, Laius, shortly after his birth after a prophecy declares that Oedipus will murder his father and wed his mother. He ends up in the hands of Polybus and Merope of Corinth. Oedipus learns from the Oracle that he will murder his father and marry his mother. As a result, Oedipus ends up leaving Corinth in order to defy his destined future. His abandonment led him to Thebes where he kills he true father, Laius, at an intersection. Soon after Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx and as a result, is crowned king of Thebes and Jocasta’s hand. A plague inflicts Thebes and will only be lifted if the person who killed Laius is

Ancient literature often features conflict between the free will of man and the inexorable decree of the gods, such as the infamous play Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles. When Apollo sent a plague to Thebes, King Oedipus guaranteed to reveal the murderer of King Laius, only to realize that Laius was his father. To make matters dramatically worse, Oedipus unknowingly married his own mother, Jocasta, shortly after he killed Laius in a fit of rage. While it could be argued that the prophecy was unyielding, it is important to note that Oedipus’s behavior is not completely benign. Oedipus brought about his own vile fate through his senseless rage and several errors.

Is it possible to outplay the hand of fate? Fate is prominent in many Greek tragedies, often laying down the path for the protagonist, who fails to stray from fates clutches. The ancient Greeks largely believed that fate was determined at birth, and couldn’t be altered or prevented. Often times in Greek tragedies the hand of fate is responsible for the downfall of great heroes. These tragic heroes bring about their doom through their tragic flaws, with the notion that fate’s hands cannot touch them. In Sophocles' tragedy, “Oedipus Rex,” Oedipus was a tragic hero, whose own hubris and lack of sight brought about his inadvertent and impulsive wrong doings and ultimately his ironic downfall, becoming what he had tried his hardest not to be, proving

As Jocasta, his wife, begs him to stop this foolish quest of his, she starts to put two and two together and comes to the realization that she is not only his wife but also his biological mother. Traumatized by this horrific knowledge, Jocasta hangs herself to free her husband, Oedipus, yet her son, from the torture that lingers under his nose. This is when Oedipus comes to the realization too that he, himself, is the killer of King Liaus, his own blood, his biological father. Anguished with absolute disbelief, Oedipus gouges out his eyes as to not see the horrific happenings. “Darkness!

Every action someone takes and choices he or she makes leads to their future. According to the idea of fate, there is a development of events in every person’s life that is beyond their control and is certain to happen. One view of fate is that the choices a person makes leads to their fate. Each action of theirs changes their fate from the previous one. However, the other view is that no matter the choices a person makes or actions they take, their fate is predetermined and cannot be changed. A person’s fate is preset and nothing they do can change that. All the choices they make lead to that destiny. In the play Oedipus the King, the author, Sophocles, challenges the idea of fate versus free will. Is fate set or does free will exist? Can one’s choices change the outcome of their fate, or is their destiny set from their birth? In Oedipus’ life fate was stronger than choice and freewill. From the beginning, everything Oedipus did to avoid his fate led to his tragic end. Choices and actions made all lead to the preset destiny.

    Determinists believe that every event of our life is strictly determined by a preceding event. This order follows until the sequence of events dates back before our birth, thus, beyond the notion of oneself as an individual. From this theory, one could argue that there could never be an attribution of responsibility to individuals since they cannot be held responsible for events dating before their birth. At the end of Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, Oedipus attributes full responsibility for his wrongdoings and stabs his eyes out and “with it the memory of [his] sorrow” (Sophocles 74). Oedipus is a literary archetype known as the

In Oedipus the King, the Chorus states, “Destiny guide me always, Destiny find me filled with reverence pure in word and deed” (Sophocles 954-956). It is clear that destiny appears to be a guiding factor in the lives of the people within the play. Free will is also emphasized as a factor that could possibly be complicated, channeled, and/or constrained by destiny and other things. It is through the interaction of the gods, the choices of the people, and the influence of prophecy that destiny is carried out, one way or another.

Thesis: Is Oedipus free or fated? Free will is the power of acting without the constraint of necessity. Fate is events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. The research will give both agreements as to whether it had the free will to choose his destiny or it was just his fate.

The theme of Fate/Destiny vs. Free will has been developed in the opening scenes of Oedipus Rex. One prominent idea that is established throughout the opening scenes is the idea of figurative and literal blindness that is strongly related to free will and fate. The theme of fate/destiny vs. free will is clearly portrayed in the pre-face to Oedipus Rex. When an oracle prophesied that King Laius very own son will kill him. This is the first time that destiny is presented. Laius and his wife Jocasta used their free will to harm their son and leave him on the mountain to die for Laius to escape his fate. As the play progresses the idea of figurative and literal blindness is presented when Oedipus and Apollo's oracle are battling with words. Oedipus

“There is a disputation that will continue till mankind is raised from the dead, between the necessitarians and the partisans of free will.” This was the twelfth-century Persian poet and mystic Jalalu’ddin Rumi thoughts on free will. With these words Rumi describes the endless argument between people who believe in free will by actions and experiences versus those who are blindly devoted to their beliefs or point of views. We can see this controversy in many literature like in that of A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will by Robert Kane and Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles. Kane speaks directly on the matter of free while Sophocles has a more indirect approach. Sophocles characters are all different from each other. One of the greatest differences among them is their free will. In the prologue, Oedipus Rex is the character with the most free will according with Kane’s text.

The conflict of fate and free will has been going on for a long time, even going as far back as the time of the Greeks. Oedipus Tyrannus is a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles. The play is about Oedipus’s life after he became King of Thebes and had to face his prophecy. Teiresias, a blind prophet, and Oedipus are prime examples of how fate and free will act out it’s conflict during the play.

Free will is considered to be a philosophical term for a course of action among many possible options. It is a topic that almost every philosopher has debated for over two millennia. “Free will is defined as the ability to select a course of action as a means of fulfilling some desire” (O’Connor, 2002). Many philosophers think that free will is closely associated with moral responsibility as well as freedom of action. Free will is a human necessity that has helped transform our society into the civilization it is today. “Determinism is another philosophical concept, which states that human life is pre-determined by such forces as gods, fate or destiny” (Cross Reference Project, 2015). The concept of free will versus fate is a prominent theme in much of literature especially those of the ancient West. Stories such as Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey as well as Virgil’s Aeneid helped pave the way for literature to inspire society to evolve and provide us with depictions of characters who had the ability to freely choose actions and struggle with their consequences versus living lives pre-determined by events due to environmental factors, original sin, and gods.

Imagine a wrestling match where the contestants are a massive sumo wrestler and a scrawny high school boy. The sumo wrestler shows no effort while the scrawny boy struggles greatly; pushing, kicking, and clawing to try and pin down the larger man. But the outcome is obvious and inevitable, the sumo wrestler pins down the boy, and wins the match. Similarly, Fate and free will battle to outdo each other, but which one is the sumo wrestler? In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, King Laius and Queen Jocasta and then their son, Oedipus, attempt to escape their fates by acts of free will, and ultimately fail. Fate is the sumo wrestler. It is stronger than free will and will always win the match.