Oedipus Rex Fate Vs Free Will

“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.

The gift of free will is an idea accepted by all people, but some, however, believe in it having strict boundaries. The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods, and along with this came obedience to them and their will. One who disobeyed the will of the gods was doomed to suffer a grave punishment. In the case of Greek tragedy, this was the downfall for many tragic heroes. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King follows the plight of a sovereign and well respected king, but whose good intentions led to his ultimate downfall. Oedipus’s steep demise is the result of decisions that he and other people consciously made in a futile attempt to change their grotesquely intertwined fates.

The Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, by Sophocles showed how powerful the gods are and that your fate is pre-determined and there is nothing you do can change that. What man can change their fate that is already destined? Throughout Oedipus the King, the concept of fate and free will plays an essential part in the destruction of Oedipus. A person’s fate is not a thing of destiny; no human being can change it.

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.

In Sophocles's play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is what is known in a tragedy as the tragic hero. Oedipus is the tragic hero because his fate goes from having the fortune to ending up in misfortune. Usually, the tragic hero is given a "tragic flaw" that sets the character up for his own downfall. The tragic flaw is intentionally an excessive positive trait causes the character fortune to turn to misfortune. In these Greek tragedies, fate plays another role in the outcome of the characters. The Gods trust that in the path they give a person, it would play out as it should. The fate the Gods choose to give them can also add to the character's downfall. In Oedipus Rex, the tragic result of Oedipus's down fall is the fault of fate and Oedipus's decisions because of the God's Prophecy, Oedipus's tragic flaw, and his parents' dishonesty.

An individual’s strengths can eventually become their greatest weaknesses. Their strongest traits can turn into their tragic flaws. A tragic flaw is a trait viewed as being favorable to a character at first, but it leads to their later downfall. It was often used in ancient Greek tragedies to show that mankind was susceptible to flaw. This was present in Sophocles 's tragedy, Oedipus the King. The protagonist of the tragedy, Oedipus, was not exempt from his own flaws. Oedipus’s traits of excessive pride and desire for knowing the truth were advantageous to him in the beginning, yet were the very things that contributed to his tragic downfall.

In Oedipus The King, Sophocles defines the relationship between fate and free will throughout the play. Fate defines events that are inevitable and unavoidable,while on the other hand free will is known as one’s ability to act upon his own dissection. Oedipus the son of king of Laius and Queen Jocasta is the main character who is mainly targeted by fate. Since birth Oedipus was cursed by the phrocephy to someday kill his father and marry his mother.

Throughout history, mankind has weighed an individual’s ability to shape their own future against the influence of a greater universal power. Literature allows for the interpretation of this question based on personal experiences, beliefs, and morals. Therefore, no definite answer could ever be provided, only examples and possibilities. In Sophocles’ Oedipus, individual power to reason and choose is deterred by a predestined fate from the Gods. Regardless of his attempts at prevention, Oedipus’ fate ironically leads to his downfall, and thus a Greek tragedy is born.

The great question that Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex poses to its audience is the existence of true and real fate and how it affects the life of human beings. In the context which Sophocles wrote the play - c. 441 BC - the fate which the representatives of the gods communicate is the official course of that life. One’s future was not questioned besides what the fates foretold. It is easier to understand the dramatic course of action that Oedipus’ parents took to avoid the told fate of their baby son. Therefore, for the dramatic and theatrical purpose of the play, I do believe that Oedipus’ life was controlled by fate.

Fate is defined as a predetermined event that cannot be changed by mortals. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus is marked by his fate, and he does not realize it until it is too late. Oedipus learns of his fate when he calls for Teiresias, the blind man who can read and interpret the prophecies. After being provoked by Oedipus, Teiresias angrily reveals that Oedipus is destined to kill his own father and marrying his own mother, while eventually gouging out his eyes. However, Oedipus does not fear his fate; he believes that he is invincible to these prophecies. How does one go about escaping fate? Does one have any control over these predetermined events? Oedipus is a man in pursuit of answers, and the idea of his prophecy coming to fruition does not sit well with him. He does not even fully understand fate and how it is going to affect him until he experiences it. Nevertheless, Oedipus understands that free will does exist and is seen throughout the text implementing his own actions into his everyday life. The idea of fate is flawed, and is used by Oedipus and people of today’s society as a scapegoat for one to hide behind their own poor decisions.

Fate in Ancient Greece was an insurmountable and unavoidable force. It was so prevalent that, “[e]ven Zeus, the mightiest of all gods, was subject to the powerful force of Destiny or Fate” (Religion Facts). It was an aspect so fearfully revered that it became deeply intertwined and rooted in daily life. This concept is something that theologians have pondered over the years, and can be seen questioned in Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus. For example, the clash between what the gods have predetermined for Oedipus in contrast with Oedipus’ own choices, can be argued to have been the principle reason as to why the events in the work unfolded the way they did. Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus demonstrates that though fate is inevitable, free will does still factor as a determinant of events, allowing the argument that instead of being conflicting factors, free will and fate work in tandem.

Oedipus has been marked from birth by fate to a life of suffering, misery, ignorance and darkness, his plight determined by the gods evokes a sympathetic response from the audience. Much of Oedipus’ downfall is caused by fate, time and coincidence working against him,

Every great tragic hero struggles to accept his fate and desires to control his destiny. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Sophocles’ Oedipus The King, the tragic heroes both search to find justice for their past king’s death. However, in terms of accepting their fate and controlling their destiny, they struggle differently. Firstly, Hamlet obtains a task that he can choose to obey or disobey; in contrast, Oedipus receives a prophecy that forecasts certain actions that he must complete. Secondly, Hamlet is able to prolong his destiny through procrastinating and distracting himself; yet, Oedipus tries to avoid his destiny and results in partially completing it. Thirdly, since Hamlet willingly fulfills his destiny he is able to die honorably, yet Oedipus unwillingly fulfills his prophecy and suffers consequently. Hamlet and Oedipus appear to be similar as a result of their circumstances, yet in regard to their struggle between fate and free will, Hamlet holds an advantage since he accepts his fate.

In Oedipus the King, Sophocles leads the story with two things: fate and free will. Throughout the play, there are examples of both, making either a probable cause of the occurrences in the narrative. On one hand, many of the choices made by the characters have direct side effects which help the story progress. On the other hand, there are seemingly random events which are very important and could be a result of destiny. The question of fate or free will applies to the three main factors which influence the plot: the characters, the gods, and prophecies.

Oedipus the King is a tragic story of a nobleman who could not escape the grasp of fate despite his efforts. From the very beginning of the story, Oedipus displayed the qualities of a King who was respected and feared by many powerful men. He was compassionate toward his people and attempted to do right by them. When Oedipus was informed of his own horrible destiny, which prophesied that he would murder his father and wed his mother, he left everything behind to escape the prophecy. Then, from solving the riddle that freed the city of Thebes to discovering his own deeds, Oedipus’s journey is the epitome of Dr. Michael Meyer’s definition of tragedy and Aristotle’s term of Katharsis.