The Role Of Free Will In Oedipus The King

Many classicists believe that Oedipus’s fall is due to his Free will and the decisions he makes. Those who hold this belief hold that Oedipus made his own decisions, which is what led to his fall and that he was not compelled by some external source. P. H. Vellacott is a strong supporter of this theory. As such, in his famous essay, “The Guilt of Oedipus,” Vellacott argues that, factually speaking, Oedipus must have at one point thought to himself, “If the man I killed was my father, and if I overcome the Sphinx and marry the queen, the oracle will be exactly fulfilled, and I shall have only myself to blame,” (Vellacott 213). In other words, Oedipus, knowing the prophecy given to him, must have understood the risk he was taking in possibly fulfilling the prophecy.

Oedipus unsuccessfully tries to change his fate. An oracle has confirmed that his destiny is to marry his mother and kill his father. That’s why they tie his legs with a strong roof and order a shepherd to keep him on the pick of the mountain so that the beasts of the mountain eat him. He does everything he can to change that fate, but because of his parents' actions in ordering him killed as an infant; his knowledge of the people who've raised him as parents is incorrect. All in all, he had no say in his fate and was incapable of changing anything. Thus, we have our tragedy.

In my opinion, Oedipus does not deserve what he got and is a victim of fate. This is because all his actions were unintentional. However, some of his actions were ignorant. Right from the beginning we see how Oedipus was envisioned to kill his father and marry his mother, thus his feet being pinned together and him

Oedipus is not responsible for his own destiny because Jocasta and Laius are his birthers, he had no decision in being born. Jocasta and Laius didn’t believe the warning the Oracle gave them so they took every warning with a grain of salt. They ended up having Oedipus, against the Oracle's advice who is essentially a medium for the Gods. The Gods took this as a personal insult and made an example out of Oedipus, to show people what happens when they disobey them and try to run from their fate.

Talk about road rage! Oedipus is pushed out the way by a wagon, and he retaliates by killing almost everyone in the wagon, including his father! Sure, Oedipus was destined to kill his father anyway, but the manner in which he did so gives an insight into his demeanor. Oedipus could have killed his father in any number of ways, but to do so in a fit of rage set off by so seemingly trivial of an event is just not rational. Murder may not have been as big of a deal at that time, but if Oedipus had tried that in today’s world, he would have either been executed or have been spending the rest of his life in a mental institution. This incident goes to show that Oedipus is a very rash and impulsive man, and this carries over into his administration and decision-making.

Oedipus doesn’t realize the personal consequences his hunt for the murderer will have for him, and his loyalty to the truth is based on his ignorance. His pride, ignorance and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. An example is when Oedipus was told [after threatening Tiresias], that he was responsible for the murder of Laius. He became enraged and called the old oracle a liar. However, Oedipus thought he could outsmart the gods, but in fact, his every action moved him closer to the prophesy becoming a reality. Upon discovery of the truth of his birth from the herdsman, Oedipus cries, “O god all come true, all burst to light!/O light now let me look my last on you!/I stand revealed at last cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands”. (631). Oedipus knew that his fate had indeed come to pass and feels cursed by it. Oedipus was guilt, of killing his father and marrying his mother. He punishes himself for the sins he committed by gouging out his eyes. The true sin is when he attempts to raise himself to the level of the gods by trying to escape his fate. Oedipus is accepting the full burden of his acts and knows that he must be punished for his sins. Therefore, this last act of gouging out his eyes was the result of Oedipus’ free will and his tragic fate came about because every sin must

Fate refers to an occurrence that uncontrollably befalls a person. The Oracle Prophesies at Delphi dooms Oedipus prior to his birth; by prophesying that Oedipus would marry his mother and kill his father. Oedipus learns about this prophecy, and lands on this fate because of his arrogance. He makes a quest for the truth about his father, because he does not know about his origin. This forms a platform for the occurrence of the Oracle prophecies. He eventually marries his mother and kills his father as prophesized by the Oracle. But was this uncontrollable? Was it not obvious that Oedipus unwittingly murdered his father, King Laius of Thebes, at a crossroad? Then as he married the king 's widow, Oedipus also wed his own mother, fulfilling the double fate of parricide and incest foretold about him. Kurt Fosso argues that “Resisting fate, One could argue that Oedipus 's

All this is a big doubt in the history of this King, which his destiny was already written or all this happened to him through the fault of his actions. In my part I say that it was not a thing of the destination what I spend to him, Oedipus created his own suffering. I am saying this is because he caused her suffering and how is it said ‘’ [that] a man is responsible for what he did"(Thomas Gould 52). All this was by his own ignorance to kill his father and marry his own mother, ‘’ [so] Oedipus [was] responsible for his

It has been reiterated time and time again in Greek literature that fate is an unavoidable force in the universe. No matter how many precautions one may take, fate will always find a way to catch up to them and fulfill its prophecies. In the case of Oedipus the King, the idea of choice plays a role in helping fate to carry out Oedipus’ destiny. Due to the choice of the shepherd to spare Oedipus from perishing as a child, his prophecy could still be fulfilled, showing that fate is a strong enough force that it will cause choices to be made so that it can be carried out.

Oedipus’s fate was partly human action and partly intervention of the gods. I say that it was partly human actions and not Oedipus’s own actions because actions of other had to do with his fate such as his parents, Jocasta and Laius, abandoning him as a small child.

Should we blame Oedipus for everything that happened? Should the king be held responsible for Iocastê's death and his own suffering and shame? Indeed, the tragic hero is responsible for some circumstances that happened during the play. For an instance, he was directly connected to Lïons death. He did not control his own emotions and exploded in rage, fatally attacking the former Theban king and his few companions. This action itself was the initial step to his whole tragic fate. But his actions alone should not be considered as enough evidence to blame him if we take the whole context into account. According to the play, Oedipus fate was already set up by the Gods even before his birth. How the king could change and control his own destiny? How would he be able to change Gods' wishes? Up to which extent should Oedipus be responsible for the consequences of actions that, although he was part of them, he was unable to control? Oedipus was nothing rather than a key character used by Apollo who was the true architect of this whole tragedy.

Fate – some believe in it, others do not. Ever since the beginning of time, prophecies have been passed down from the gods to oracles – these messages were worshipped and fate was always seen as fact, something that cannot be avoided. In the play, “Oedipus the King”, fate is shown to be the underlying reason for why Oedipus becomes victim to events that he cannot control. When Oedipus is summoned to an oracle and told that he will eventually kill his own father and marry his mother, he is distraught and tries to go against his own fate. Oedipus, though, has already fallen victim to these harsh circumstances set forth by the Greek Gods, and this play is able to show that no matter what Oedipus chooses to do, he can never outrun his fate.

Regardless of Oedipus’s newfound free will, he ends up being partially guided by his own fate. When talking about the murderer with Creon, he says, “Upon the murderer I invoke this curse—whether he is one man and

It’s an early morning and you’ve just brought in the newspaper. Flipping to the horoscope section right away, scanning over your daily predictions in hope of a good day and lucky for you, the horoscope says you’ll run into ‘the one’ today. Even though many others have received the same fortune, you still believe it to be true because the paper said it was going to be destiny. Can you believe that thousands of years ago, people still believed in destiny? Way back in ancient Greece, they didn’t exactly call it a horoscope but their version of destiny was brought to them by Oracles. A popular Greek play that represents the Greek’s belief in oracles is Oedipus the King. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles demonstrates a variety of literary devices such

The events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, show an underlying relationship of man’s free will existing within the cosmic order or fate which the Greeks believed guided the universe in a harmonious purpose. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concept of fate and free will played an integral part in Oedipus’ destruction. Although he was a victim of fate, he was not controlled by it. Oedipus was destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father. This prophecy, as warned by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what he may have done to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate, but what he did in Thebes; he did so of his own will.