Oedipus The King: Destiny Vs. Choice

Fate vs Free Will as it relates to the character Oedipus OR Adam and Eve. Consider: behavior, outcomes, how the choices were made, or were the choices made for them?

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,

In our world today, fate and free will remains the biggest mystery of all; is everything we do controlled or do we have the freedom of choice? In the story "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, the author uses the idea of fate and free will to explain the struggle of Oedipus's life. Fate and free will is explained as; fate is controlled by an outside supernatural force, and there is no way of controlling it. Free will is when each of us is responsible and controls all aspects of our own life. The author of "Oedipus the King" uses ironic devices to convey a tragic attitude toward the struggle of fate and free will.

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.

Sophocles states that “Fate has terrible power. You cannot escape it by wealth or war. No fort will keep it out, no ships outrun it.” Fate derives from a Latin word, fatum, meaning that one’s future is predetermined. In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles unfolds the misfortune of a noble king who searches for knowledge. Evidently, Greek heroes like Oedipus are destined to rule, but are also bound to fall, therefore, he cannot alter his own fate. This tragic play proves that the power of fate is indeed stronger than one’s free will. Despite his attempts to fight his destiny, Oedipus can never outrun his fate. Regardless of his parents’ desperation to evade the predicted outcome, fate guides his journey for knowledge, leading to his destruction.

In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, the idea of fate and destiny is brought to the forefront of the play. The idea of fate is incredibly prevalent in the play and drives a significant amount of the plot. The most important example of fate in the play is the prophecy that Oedipus is doomed to follow. The prophecy that Oedipus is supposed to fall victim to is revealed to the audience by Teiresias, a paraphrasing of the prophecy is “he’ll have no joy of the discovery: blindness for sight and beggary for the riches his exchange, he shall go journeying to a foreign country tapping his way before him with a stick. He shall be proved father and brother both to his own children in his house; to her that gave him birth, a son and husband both; a fellow sower in his father’s bed with that same father that he murdered” (Sophocles, 504-513). Even though, many of the seeds of this

If prophecy existed in today’s world, one could expect what is going to happen in the future. However, this is existent in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, and the main character, Oedipus signals his doom involuntarily. Fate is the series of events that occur without the person’s control, and Oedipus falls victim to it. Whether it is caused by a foolish parent, a king or ruler, each and every person has fate. Sophocles writes a tragic fate that Oedipus was born to experience, while combating the misconception of free will he also presents.

Oedipus the King: Blinded by Fate and Determination (593) As people, our feelings and attitudes on things have existed for so long over such a long period of time that this makes it extremely hard for us to see some of the visible truths in different situations. Sometimes people that are blind and cannot see at all can actually see more than a person that has their full sight. In life, we often blind ourselves to the difficult truth, which is inevitably predetermined and is too painful for us to bear. Sight is used throughout the play Oedipus the King to allude readers to all the significant things that Oedipus should have been aware of.

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 Robert Fagles translation of Oedipus The King the play tells a story of a selfish ruler named Oedipus. He is abandoned at birth and drawn to the city of Thebes as a young man from Corinth because of a prophecy made from the gods. Fear of the prophecy drove him from caring for his people and made him paranoid to find the truth in this prophecy. Oedipus sends out his brother-in-law Creon to ask an oracle how to end the plague. The oracle speaks to the god Apollo and receives an answer.

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 underlying theme in Oedipus Rex is that fate is more powerful than free will. On this strong basis of fate, free will doesn't even exist. This was a popular belief among the ancient Greeks.  Fate may be accepted or denied by modern society, but in Oedipus's story, fate proves inevitable. In the play, Oedipus Rex, the characters Oedipus, Iocaste and Laios try to change fate.

Since the dawn of time prophecies have supposedly been passed down directly from the gods unto the prophets. In the ancient Grecian time, god’s word was worshipped and fate was all but fact. In the bible, Moses was one of the most famous prophets. In the 1500s, Nostradamus, who was a French apothecary and seer, wrote an entire collection of prophecies. Throughout history there have been theses men and many more who claimed to know details about the future. Why would so many prophecies become world renowned if there were no truths to them? More importantly, does fate even exist? I believe that people have the will to make their own choices and make decisions throughout their daily life however no matter what choices we make the

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 would not have been successful throughout centuries as a tragic play, if Oedipus were clearly responsible for his own tragedy. The play's ongoing success was do to Oedipus' innocence which immediately makes one think he can not be fully responsible and to blame. I do not believe Sophocles would have wrote the story, or I do not think people would have ever read it or studied it had it simply been a story of a criminal's retribution. Sophocles himself believed Oedipus to be the innocent victim of an ironic tragedy, and built the play around this belief. This story was destined to happen and I believe the author would agree. The story revolves around destiny, the resistance of people to it and the ultimate ending of destiny