Oedipus: Man Cannot Escape His Fate

Often the past will present answers to questions about the future as well as questions of the now, and in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus’ past plays an integral role in his pursuit of righting the wrongs that are affecting him in the present. In the play, Oedipus must identify who has killed Laius in order to exile them to solve the qualms of his people, and in a dialogue with Jocasta, who happens to be his wife as well as his mother, she reveals to him details of the death of Laius that seem far too familiar for his comfort (Sophocles 27). This revelation of information acts as a catalyst that forces Oedipus to make the connection between his past and what Jocasta is telling him. This realization that he may have been responsible for Laius’ death exposes him to the weight of the pursuit of justice sometimes hold for humans. Through this dialogue, Oedipus comes to fear that he is the culprit of the scandal that is plaguing the situation, thus putting him in the position of a criminal who will face the due punishment for the crime. This internal conflict that Oedipus experiences creates and

“Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” In other words, the connotation of this anonymous quote states that despite whatever one chooses to decide, the outcome of their choices and decisions will still result to their predetermined fate. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, demonstrates this statement throughout the play in the role of his tragic hero Oedipus. In the course of Oedipus’ actions of trying to escape his predestined fortune, his fate and flaws of being human played major roles to bring about his downfall.

Many times in life, people think they can determine their own destiny, but, as the Greeks believe, people cannot change fate the gods set. Though people cannot change their fate, they can take responsibility for what fate has brought them. In the story Oedipus, by Sophocles, a young king named Oedipus discovers his dreadful fate. With this fate, he must take responsibility and accept the harsh realities of what’s to come. Oedipus is a very hubris character with good intentions, but because he is too confident, he suffers. In the story, the city of Thebes is in great turmoil due to the death of the previous king, Laius. With the thought of helping his people, Oedipus opens an investigation of King Laius’s murder, and to solve the mystery,

Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control. In “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles, tells us about a tragic hero (Oedipus) in which his life is predetermined by fate, because he is deprived of free will. The first act of fate on Oedipus was him being saved by a shepherd when his parents (Queen Jocasta and King Laius) left him in the mountains to die, he then met and killed his father without knowing who he was, and last, he married Queen Jocasta, later realizing that she was his mother. Every action that Oedipus took to prevent his fate, would soon be the ultimate downfall, not only for himself, but for his family and the people of Thebes.

Suicide is a desperate act that makes a strong, but sad, lasting statement. However, from this, a question arises from this last statement, why do people commit suicide? An answer is found through the character Jocasta from Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex. Jocasta, both the unfortunate wife and mother of Oedipus, is a static character. However, she goes through a minor evolution once she realizes Oedipus is her child. Jocasta’s prideful character and revelation of Oedipus’ birth cause her to commit suicide.

Oedipus the King, was written by Sophocles between C.A.496-406B.C. In this play, Oedipus is a great example of Sophocles’ belief that fate will control a man’s life no matter how much free will exists.

But unlike Oedipus, Jocasta handles her situation through hypocrisy and denial. As the play progresses, it becomes obvious that Jocasta is terrified of the idea that her life is influenced by the gods. Instead, she forces herself to believe that “life is governed by the operations of chance. Nothing can be clearly foreseen. The best way to live is by hit or miss, as best you can” (53). Jocasta’s life best resembles a balance, with the evidence to support the prophecies on one side and how much she can ignore on the other. She convinces herself that prophetic power does not exist, yet attempted to avoid the prophecy of Laius’ death by sending their child into the mountains. When Laius died, Jocasta reasoned that it was due to chance, thus proving the prophecy wrong. But the moment the Corinthian messenger revealed where he found Oedipus as a baby, Jocasta’s balance tipped. Not even Jocasta, who could ignore Oedipus’ injuries to his ankle and the meaning of his name, could overlook the proof. In her desperation to retain control of her life, Jocasta begs Oedipus to not interrogate the shepherd, and when he refuses, she takes her own life. Ultimately, Jocasta is revealed as a character who would do anything to avoid the truth. When the prophecies came to fruition, Jocasta realizes that she never had any control over her life. Unlike Oedipus, Jocasta refuses to accept her fate, and in her final act of defiance, an act she deems as her own, she commits

The characters in the play Oedipus The King, by Sophocles, respond to suffering in a variety of ways. Characters like Tiresias respond altruistically to protect others from the truth, other characters similar to Oedipus tend to approach these situations with gall and are hasty with allegations, and the remaining characters respond like Jocasta with disbelief and extremity. Ironically, although suffering is painful and destructive, the way the characters dealt with suffering brought each of them to find the true value of clarity and healing that can be found when suffering.

Large-scale questions of such ideas are raised in Sophocles’ play, “Oedipus the King”—a story that deals with the tragic hero, Oedipus, and his demise. Oedipus progresses through the play struggling against his own wicked destiny: the prophecy that declares that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Ultimately, Oedipus fulfills this prophecy; in fact, he had completed his fate without his own knowing and before the play even begins. Despite his belief that he was fighting against his prophesized destiny, Oedipus was ironically fulfilling it, and he slowly brings about his own downfall. He becomes a victim of his own fate. In this regard, “Oedipus the King” explores a terrifying concept: Oedipus never had free will—a puppet in every sense to the higher beings that decided his ending for him.

Amongst the many and spectacular classic theatre play’s “Oedipus” by Sophocles is by far the most common natured one due to the fact that mankind usually trying to outrun his fate. This play heavily relates to the prophecies and words messages sent from God to people to obey or face the consequences that lie ahead of them. Though the individuals are in disbelief after being told by Teiresias Oedipus believes that if he removes himself from the area his destiny will be forgone. Regardless of the measures that were taken in this play in order to prevent himself from killing his father and marrying his mother Oedipus blind sighted still ends up in the same situation. The plot twist is enough to make the reader wonder as to if King Lauis and Jocasta had listened to the messengers what would had occurred.

Moreover, Sophocles’ insightful word choice is used to further explore the themes of free will and fate. While Jocasta is trying to convince Oedipus to go no further in his quest to learn his lineage, she tells him in her dialog, “You’re doomed --/may you never fathom who you are!”(4-5). Sophocles’ choice of the word “doomed” is again a word implying an inescapable fate. However, since Jocasta knows the prophecy has already been fulfilled the ill-fated future that she foreshadows is Oedipus’ tragic fall. Thus it is of significance that with her next line in the script in response to Oedipus calling to a servant to fetch the shepherd, Jocasta says to Oedipus, “Man of agony--/ that is the only name I have for you,/ that, no other-- ever, ever, ever!”(10-12). This is a turning point for Jocasta, not only has her speech become reduced to short clauses, she has also come to the conclusion that Oedipus has inflicted his physical and mental trauma on himself by his choices. As Jocasta exits the stage to commit suicide after

Sophocles is the author of the famous play, “Oedipus the King”. In case you did not know, Sophocles is from Greece. In Greek mythology there are three goddesses who preside over the birth and life of humans. Each person 's destiny was thought of as a thread spun, measured, and cut by the three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. In the story “Oedipus the King” fate and destiny was the main theme. On Google the definition of destiny is the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future. Fate is defined as, the development of events beyond a person 's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. In this paper I will be analyzing the story to help you understand the significance of destiny and fate to the story.

The peripeteia and the anagnorisis lead to the catastrophe in the end. The catastrophe is a scene of suffering for the protagonist. When Oedipus discovers his true identity he says "I stand revealed at last - cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with theses hands!" (1308-10). The catastrophe continues as Oedipus finds Jocasta, who had hung herself. Oedipus blinds himself with her dress pins so he can no longer see the ugliness of his life around him and in the end flees his country.

Laius and Jocasta hear the fate that their son would kill Laius and marry Jocasta. In their free will, they decide to get him killed, and send a shepherd to send the baby on top of the mountain to have him killed. Although, fate overpowered and the baby survived, and the prophecy later became true. () Another part is when Oedipus leaves Corinth, a free will action in order to fall away from the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother. Although, what he did not know was that Merope and Polybus were not his blood parents, and he eventually does kill his blood father and marry his blood mother. This is showing how free will is limited, as characters did have the free will to do certain actions, but it is fate that truly conducts the play. “A son was born To us, but lived no more than three days. Yes, Laius pinned his ankles together and sent him Away to die on a distant, lonely mountain. Once he was there, no power could make him a murderer, Nor make Laius die at the hands of his son.” (95) Through free will, Jocasta thought that if her and Laius were to send Oedipus to the mountains through a servant to die, then the fate would be gone. Even though she could have killed Oedipus herself, she could not bare killing her own son. This ultimately lead to a change, and her free will action lead to fate, as Oedipus went on to survive and kill Laius and marry herself. This shows that even though Jocasta had the choice to kill Oedipus, fate in the end had the control of the action and free will was limited by

"Oedipus the King" is a tragic play showing a shift from the belief of fate to freedom of choice. Therefore, Oedipus the king is a great example of those who run from fate ends up fulfilling their fate