Oedipus Externalizing Fate

    During ancient times, the Greeks believed very strongly in a concept called "fate".  What is "fate"?  Fate can be defined as a cause beyond human control that determines events.  It can also be defined as the outcome or end of some sort.  In "Oedipus Rex", King Oedipus is a character that lived by fate and died by fate.  This element of fate truly impacted the storyline and the plot, while allowing for some interesting developments that may have been unforeseen by the viewing audience.

From birth, Oedipus, the Tragic Hero of Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex has been destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Although by the opening act of the play, Oedipus has already earned the throne of Thebes for solving the riddle of the sphinx, the greek hero is unaware that he has already fulfilled the prophy. Meanwhile, the people of Thebes are dying of a plague that will only end when the murderer of Laius, the previous Theban King, is punished. Through retrospection, Oedipus believes that he might be responsible for Laius death and is told that the King and Queen of Corinth who raised him were not his biological parents. In this passage, Jocasta, having already discovered the truth that she is both Oedipus’ mother and wife, warns Oedipus to go no further in his path for self knowledge. But Oedipus ignores her warning and calls for the Shepherd, to learn more about his mysterious lineage. This passage suggests that Oedipus’ downfall is not the product of fate but of his own free will. Sophocles employs characterization, word choice, and irony to reveal how free will has led to tragedy.

In the tragedy, Oedipus the King, fate is a predetermined course of events and is also an important factor that caused Oedipus’s downfall. Oedipus is ultimately a victim of his own fate because, despite his and Jocasta’s efforts, he could not escape the prophecies. Though others say that Oedipus created his own fate because he had the free will to handle the prophecies in becoming his own outcome, in the end, there was no chance that Oedipus could escape the prophecies. It was the fate for Oedipus getting saved after being left to die by his parents. Also, the gods brought the plague into Oedipus’s city, which caused him to search for the murderer of Laius. The truth behind the prophecy was also planned for Oedipus before he even knows it.

A common debate that still rages today is whether we a a species have free will or if some divine source, some call it fate, controls our destiny. With all the oracles and talk of prophecies, it’s obvious that there is some divine intention in Oedipus. First, in Oedipus at Colonus, there is oracle at Delphi that tells Oedipus’s parents and then himself that he will kill his father and marry his mother. While free choices, such as Oedipus’s decision to pursue knowledge of his identity, are significant, fate is responsible for Oedipus’s incest and many of the other most critical and devastating events of the play. By elevating the importance of fate, Sophocles suggests that characters cannot be fully responsible for their actions. It becomes difficult, for example, to blame Oedipus for marrying his mother given his ignorance. Oedipus is known for being a smart dude. After all, he was the only guy around who could figure out the riddle of the Sphinx. Unfortunately, for a large portion of his life he also lacks some significant information. If he'd known who his real parents were, he could've avoided some seriously unfortunate situations. You have to hand it to Oedipus, though, even when he's beginning to get the gist of the horrible truth, he doesn't stop searching for it. In the end, you could see Oedipus as representing all of humanity and our quest to understand the truth of ourselves and our place in the universe.

Throughout the vast history of literature, various concepts have come and gone. The idea of fate or fatalism has been a concept that has survived the test of time. Numerous characters have succumbed to the power of fate and the character of Oedipus from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a prime example of the vast power of fate within literature. Sophocles effectively depicts the wrath of fate as he portrays how Oedipus fell victim to fate and his efforts to disregard fate were futile. Once again fate manages to triumph and displays no character whether king or slave can avoid its gaze.

Throughout history people try have tried to change the outcome of a situation by running away or avoiding their problems. Oedipus is no different, but by trying to run away from his problems, he only fulfills his destiny. even more. Nobodies fate it Everyone has an inescapable fate, a lesson taught by from Oedipus Rex. The play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is about fate and reveals that it cannot be altered or avoided.

Fate as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary is ‘an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end’. Sophocles discusses fate vs free will in his plays. In the play Oedipus Rex there was a prophecy that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, he attempts to escape his destiny by running away to Thebes where he meets his fate. In the play Antigone, that main character Antigone decides to go against Creon’s (her uncle who has inherited the throne) decree and bury the brother, Polynices, knowing the consequences would lead to her death. In Sophocles’ plays Oedipus Rex and Antigone, the theme is mankind not being able to escape their fate.

I do not believe that the gods are to blame for Oedipus’s tragic downfall, unlike Azeh Check. . Oedipus and his biological parents did attempted to avoid the prophecy from the gods but in the end it was Jocasta and Laius’s efforts that lead to the actual fulfilling of the prophecy and downfall of Oedipus. Oedipus is just a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Initially when he was given his prophecy I feel that his parent did not have to act on the prophecy, instead they could have just cherish their child putting the life of their baby before theirs and raised their son. They were extremely scared and felt it was the right thing to do but their decision shows they might have been acting selfishly. Jocasta should have known that she would never

Anagnorsis leads Oedipus learn his tragedy from Theiresisa, and there is no chance to change his fate because it already happened. According to Oedipus talking, “ I must get married to my mother and kill my father…O you gods, you pure, blessed gods, may I not see that day!” ( ) It shows that Oedipus discovers his destiny from Teiresias, but he doesn’t know that the tragedy already happen on his life. Therefore, he tries to go far away from their parents Polybus and Merope because he does not want to see the tragedy will come true. As the story progresses, Oedipus finds out that Laius is his father, and his mother Jocasta is his wife. Also, they both have daughters Antigone and Ismene after they get married. As a reader, it is a fate because

We also find that fate has led him to be ignorant of his the fact that those he considers his parents are not really his biological parents. The play portrays Oedipus as a man with much love for his family. Though he wishes to see his parents, he vows not to return to his home in Corinth for fear of falling into fate’s hands. Had he known who his parents are beforehand, he never would have slain his father and married his mother. His actions are noble and meant for the greater good however, twist of fate corrupt them, and lead him closer to his unwanted destiny. We can argue that fate has it that he comes to learn the truth about his family when it is too late.

For the ancient peoples of the world, the idea of fate was seen as a concrete structure for which everyone had to follow. Every respective culture identifies or worships a deity of fate, whether it be the benevolent Laima in Eastern European myth, or the horrible Mahākāla in East Asian religion. While these represent fate for humans, few gods reach the direct intervention with humans that the Greek Morai do. These gods, typically depicted as three female spinners, direct the fate of humans in an unwavering path. The destiny they spin may not be desired or envied, but a path is chosen before feet ever reach it.

Over the centuries, people have pondered over the influence divine or diabolical power and how free an individual is in making choices that are their very own. The ancient Greeks acknowledged the role of Fate in their daily lives as a terrifying and unstoppable force. The messages of prophecies often times offered the questioner incomplete, evasive answers that both enlightened and darkened the tragic hero’s near future. Writers such a Sophocles questioned the power of the prophecies and the power they had to convey the will of the gods and moral choice.

Sophocles’ tragedy Oepdius Tyrannus details the downfall of a man fighting with all his might against destiny. Oedipus goes so far as to portray the relationship between predetermined fate and free choice is portrayed as being antagonistic in nature. Ultimately, the play concludes that free will, though it does exist, acts secondarily to fate. The submissive nature of free will is not clear to the Greeks of Sophocles’ tragedy, and so Oedipus and the other characters in the play constantly attempt to escape their fate.

The theme of “Fate (deed of the gods) versus free-will (personal choices and actions)” is ever-present in Greek drama. It is the concept that the lead character of a drama has no control over his Fate, which is preconceived and inevitable. On the other hand, it has been argued that the character did have a choice in the matter, and ultimately, it’s their choices that lead to their destiny being fulfilled. In this essay, I will be exploring the role of the gods in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, and whether or not they are to blame for his tragic downfall.

In greek mythology there are many different aspects. It is mostly surrounded by the gods such as Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. There is a lot of controversy to such topic. According to Google, a god as a being perfect in power, wisdom and goodness who is also worshiped as a creator and ruler of a universe. In Greek Mythology it was mostly centrified by the nature of the world and the significance of their ritual and cult that originated in Greece. In the book The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, Oedipus himself is a tragic hero. A tragic hero is a literary character that makes a judgement that leads them to their own destruction. Within the book, Oedipus is this high respected king with power in his hands yet towards the end he becomes this dumbfounded blind man that once sought truth. Everything has been revolved around fate. The sequence in which things happened was more than bargained for. Could Oedipus have done something different to change the outcome of such agony? Yes, but was it really all under his control? No. As bad as Oedipus may have seemed throughout; fate was one thing that controlled what was bound to come.