The Importance Of Fate In Oedipus At Colonus

I believe fate is an unavoidable and often an unfortunate outcome. Fate is the belief that all events are determined by the divine will or by some force greater than man, that every event must take place as it does because it has been predetermined. Not a bible word or teaching. The Greeks believed that fate should be accepted because it ultimately cannot be avoided.

If predictions were to be real, one could really believe that is what is going to happen in the future. In “Oedipus the King” this is actually true, Oedipus calls for his fate unwillingly and definitely inevitably. Fate is described as something that unavoidably befalls a person. The author of “Oedipus the King,” Sophocles, writes a tragic fate that Oedipus was born to live. I will begin by giving a brief analysis of the story to give a better understanding, and explain point by point why fate was just inevitable in this story.

Equally important to the role of fate in bringing about the downfall of Oedipus is the human flaw of arrogance that clouded Oedipus’ intellect to reason. One can ultimately see this human flaw in the beginning of the play as he says “Here I am myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (p 262, line 7-9). One day Oedipus heard someone say that he wasn’t his father’s son in which bothered him greatly and triggered his curiosity in whether Polybus and Merope were his biological parents. So, as a way to figure out his identity and true origins, he left to Delphi to see the Oracle. However, instead of answering Oedipus’ answer of who his true parents were, the Oracle told him of his fate that “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see – you will kill your father the one who gave you life” (p. 297, lines 873-875). Hence, his arrogance is clearly showed as he disregards the prophecy, similar to the actions of Laius and Jocasta by escaping it, as he abandons Corinth and sets forth to a place where he “would never see the shame of all those oracles come true” (p. 297, lines 879-880). His flaw of

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.

He fought bravely for his king and his country, and soon after fighting Macbeth encounters the three witches.The witches give Macbeth prophecies on how he will be king and how Banquo’s descendants will be kings.The moment Macbeth learns he will be king he ponders over committing regicide to take the throne for himself. He wavers on the line to kill King Duncan but in the end decides to go along with the plan to kill the king. He immediately regrets his decision and after a while though that regret gets suppressed deep down inside and he begins to feel nothing when he kills the king. Professor Stanley Rachman states that, “The effects of betrayal include shock, loss and grief, morbid pre-occupation, damaged self-esteem, self-doubting, anger.”(Stanley Rachman), when Macbeth commits an act of betrayal against the king Duncan, he turns to a violent individual with no regard for his actions and displays all of the previous qualities that professor Rachman had stated. Macbeth even goes as far as to feel nothing when he kills innocent women and children. This contrasts his earlier ways of murdering people and regretting his actions to him being cold hearted to these matters. When hearing of an opportunity to gain power, Macbeth loses his previous morals and resorts to acting in barbarous manners to try and seize the huge amount of power at stake. Another example of this theme occurs when Macbeth’s friendship with Banquo is shattered. At first in the play, Macbeth and Banquo are showcased as best friends, they fight alongside each other for the glory of their country and people. Banquo even betrays his own ethics for his friendship with Macbeth, but that is a topic that will be brought up later in the text. Macbeth hires assassins to murder his best friend and this is all because the Witches foretold that Banquo’s descendants will be kings. Out of fear of losing the throne Macbeth betrays his friendship

In Oedipus the king the Prophets tells Oedipus how his life will pan out and that there is nothing that he can do about it. Oedipus, however thinks he can prove them wrong being the self righteous person that he is. He believes that fate is not real and that its all about free will and individual decisions that lead to and determine the future. Oedipus is wrong for thinking that he can change his fate because the world is controlled by fate not free will.

As Freud further hypothesized, Sophocles helped bring the idea of fate or destiny into people’s minds. Fate was apparent because although the actions and feelings of the characters were an essential part of the story, ultimately nothing could change one's fate. Basically, Oedipus lacked the freewill to make his own choices and therefore ended up fulfilling the prophecy, despite him doing everything he in his power to avoid it.

Macbeth went to all lengths to maintain his power. Macbeth decided that Banquo, his comrade in battle and his best friend had to be killed. Macbeth stated in his soliloquy, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature/Reigns that which would be feared” (3.1.53-55). Macbeth abused the power he had because of his paranoia that others were after his position of power. Macbeth showed that he was willing to do anything even killing Banquo, whose intentions were to have Macbeth’s best interest. Macbeth saw Banquo as a threat because of the prophecy that his son’s will become king. Macbeth acted on his feelings instantly about Banquo and didn’t think it through clearly. Macbeth let his paranoia of losing his powers to get the best of him because he killed someone who was close to him and wanted what was best for him.

When thinking of who is responsible for the tragedy of Oedipus, I tend to lean towards fate. Since the beginning, it was Oedipus' fate to kill his father and marry his mother. He spent most of his life attempting to avoid this, but all of his actions simply brought him closer to his fate. Fate knew Oedipus' end from the beginning and the oracles were always right in what they predicted for him. I think the gods are so nasty to Oedipus because he tried to avoid his prophecy by leaving his believed parents. I believe Oedipus has free will, but no matter what he chose to do, his fate would have remained the same at the end.

The moment that Macbeth finally decided to kill Banquo, was the moment that showed the audience that Macbeth is willing to do anything to stay in power. It was when Macbeth believe that Banquo was on to him that he said to the murders “I’ll call upon you straight. Abide within./ It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight,/ If it find heaven, must find it out tonight.” (3.2.160-163). With this action, it symbolizes Macbeth’s deeper descent into fully only caring about the throne. Macbeth killed his closest friend because he saw him as a threat to his rulership in Scotland. Without Macbeth’s ambition taking control in this situation, Banquo will still be alive and Macbeth would of most likely been healed or out of power. Another example of Macbeth’s ambition taking control and his loss of empathy in relationships, was when his wife committed suicide. At this point in the story Macbeth is noticing the forest moving towards his castle, and is more concern with the possible death of himself than the worries of his wife. Lady Macbeth is riddled with guilt with what she's done, she decides to kill herself to feel no more pain. And when she does Macbeth doesn’t care

Macbeth’s temptation for the throne leads Macbeth to killing King Duncan. Macbeth himself acknowledged his vaulting ambition that would drive him to murder Duncan as he says, “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare 1.3.143). Duncan’s announcement about naming Malcolm to be his heir made Macbeth realize that he would need to take a course of action for the witches prophecies to come true. Killing King Duncan is the beginning of a dark path in which Macbeth is about to embark. Similarly, Macbeth’s jealousy and selfishness to the throne leads Macbeth to kill his friend, Banquo. When the witches prophesize a greater destiny for Banquo than Macbeth, they say “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater, Not so happy, yet much happier” (Shakespeare 1.3.63-6). Macbeth cannot stop thinking about Banquo’s prophecy of the three witches. Macbeth gets ruthless at this point, does not care for a guilty conscience. Macbeth has become so accustomed to violence that he did not hesitate in the planning of Banquo’s murder. Macbeth will not let anyone stand in his way from keeping his crown, even at the risk of killing

Macbeth fears that there will be consequences for his actions but he had chose to kill the king anyways for his own benefit after taking what the witched told him in consideration. Another example of the three witches motivating Macbeth’s actions is when they tell Banquo that his kids will be future kings but Banquo would not be king. For example, the third witch says, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: so, all hail Macbeth and Banquo!” (1.3.67). Banquo had a son named Fleance and Macbeth remembers that the witches had told Banquo that his children will be kings so, to stay in power to fulfil his own ambition, Macbeth decides to send three murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, doing anything he can to maintain his position as the king. Macbeth believes that so far whatever the witches have told him has started to come true and therefore what may happen in the future will also come true so, by taking matters in his own hands Macbeth kills Banquo. The last example of the witches motivating Macbeth’s actions is when Macbeth realizes that what he has been told by the witches has impacted his future in an honorable way because he was able to snatch the crown from Duncan and was made the Thane of Cawdor. As these actions became legitimate Macbeth become more motivated to see the witches again to find out his future. For example, Macbeth says, “I hear it by the way, but I

Are all events predetermined? Does everyone have a prophetic destiny that they must fulfill? If so, who determines their fate? Who—or what—binds them to their fixed ending? Is there really no way to resist? Is fatalism—the theory that all events are preset and inevitable—true? And if it is—is there ever such a thing as free will?

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.

Fate played an important part in the plays and literature of the Greeks as is shown in Sophocles' play