Free Will In Oedipus The King

The story of Oedipus is a sad one above all else. He was given an oracle and did everything in his power to avoid what was predestined for him, but because he had been lied to, he ended up satisfying the prophecy anyways. The guilt that overcame Oedipus was too much for him to deal with so he exiled himself as punishment. Had his birth parents kept him and explained to him what the oracle was, chaos could have been prevented, but due to his mother’s fear, the oracle happened

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

Throughout the play, Oedipus goes to Tiresias, Jocasta, Creon, The Messenger, The Oracle, and The Shepherd for information regarding his life. Each character in one way or another refused to give him the answers he seeked to know. As Oedipus got closer to the answer, another character tried to put a stop in his journey. Oedipus continues moving forward even though people requested that he didn’t. “Oh no, listen to me, i beg you, don’t do this…..Listen to you? No more. I must know it all, see the truth at last” (Sophocles 195). His desire for the truth kept him going to continue his search to find himself, leading to his downfall. Although he had the capability to discontinue the plight, he made the independent decision to continue.

Throughout the play, Oedipus constantly urges Creon, Jocasta, Tiresias, the messenger, and the shepherd for information of his beginnings. For example, when Tiresias revealed his fate, he lost his temper and insulted Tiresias. “You cannot cloud in words what you are/ An enemy, a bitter and cunning...” (38). Oedipus did not want to believe in his fate and ordered Tiresias to leave. Tiresias points out that Oedipus’s obstinacy and pride will bring upon his downfall. “But, as you /Shall learn, what was your pride must be your ruin” (35). Another example when Oedipus lashed out was when he killed Laius and the men around him. “I became angry /And struck the coachman” (53). Oedipus was born with his own stubbornness, a quality that the gods gave

Another sign that Oedipus had no free will throughout the play, are the number of failed attempts at stopping the prophecies from happening, starting with Laios. Laios tries to get rid of his son so he won’t be murdered by him. His plan fails however when his wife gives the baby to a shepherd. The shepherd decides to give the baby to a king from another country, believing that this will keep the baby as far away as possible from Thebes and Laios. This backfires however. By not being with his true family, Oedipus questions his parents and seeks out an oracle. This oracle of course, tells him of the prophecy. And, because Oedipus does not know he is adopted and does not wish to kill his own father or wed his mother, he leaves the one place he

He was blind to the fact that he was fulfilling the prophecy until it was revealed to him. Everything Oedipus did was manifestations of fate. His belief in oracles and gods later on made him fearful of his fate, although he didn’t believed in gods before realizing his uncontrollable fate. In ancient Greece, gods played important roles and no human could challenge them. Fate was uncontrollable and man’s predestined actions also becomes part of their fate. Oedipus pride and free will couldn’t help him to avoid the prophecy. “My birth all sprung revealed from those it never should, myself entwined with those I never could And I the killer of those I never would” (pg.). After killing his father he started to realize the prophecy has become true and fate is unavoidable.

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.

Fate is a crucial element that often occurs frequently in Greek writing. Throughout the play Oedipus tries to change his fate. He found out that no matter what he did that his fate was sealed and there was no escaping that fate. His fate was predicted down to, he would kill his father, Laius and marry and have sexual relations with his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus wants to invade this entire situation once he learns what his fate is told to be by three oracles. “OEDIPUS

Over a longer period of time, people can start to depict whether it is in the characters fate or free will is going to get the best of that particular character. However, it seems like Oedipus has a choice whether we wants to stab his eyes out, or look at Simon, who did not have a choice when he ends up in the field staring at the Lord of the Flies. Both of these events are considered to end up being the downfall of both civilizations and leads to tragedy. To start things off, throughout the entire story of Oedipus it makes references that Oedipus can not see and struggles when the truth can appear right in front of his eyes. Oedipus does not realize that he is the killer of his own father and he tries to find the killer throughout the

Oedipus Rex, a Greek tragedy written by Sophocles, narrates the story of a prideful ruler named Oedipus who is abandoned by his birth parents as an infant because he was prophesized to kill his father and marry his mother and fulfills the prophecy bestowed onto him by trying to escape it in migrating to Thebes, his birth place. Greek tragedies, such as Oedipus Rex, frequently incorporate the idea of fate versus free will, as Greek tradition holds that destiny is determined by gods, and depict the downfall of powerful individuals who attempted to go against the gods’ will. Fate is clearly dominant to free will in the course of events in Oedipus Rex, as evident by the manifestation of various prophecies throughout the course of events,

If there is a god, man hates him. How could he not? He was born and raised under an illusion in which he believed that he possessed freewill, but in time he learns that all of his actions that did not align with the will of his creator were gravely punished. Sophocles’ trilogy of Theban plays showcases this ideal in that any character that tries to act independently apart from the gods of Olympus only lives a life of tragedy, and furthermore Sophocles asks his audience if freewill is a curse rather than a blessing.

In the play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles shows the viewer how an individual's free will does not alter the path created by fate. Oedipus full of hubris, temper and paranoia showed his free will trying to ultimately prevent fate, he leaves Corinth, curses the murderer of Laius leading him on the quest for the truth. All the decisions made also had other options but Oedipus followed the same process which will lead him to nemesis. The protagonist was destined from the beginning to end up killing his father and marrying his mother but the way he would do it was unclear. " god help you, Oedipus you were born to suffer, born to misery and grief" (Sophocles, line 1356-1358). Oedipus searches for the truth irrationally,

Fate and free will are inherent to human nature and human desire. As demonstrated in Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, while free will is a part of human nature, there is also predetermination of one's fate. According to Oxford Dictionaries “Fate definition is:” The development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power”. Oedipus life was cursed at birth. King Laius and Queen Iocasta received a prophecy that their son would kill the father and marry his mother. For this reason they gave orders to a shepherd to leave the baby in a field to die. They did this trying to escape their fate. Later, baby Oedipus is given to other Kind and his wife in order to raise this baby as their own. Trying to avoid their fate Oedipus parents brought the curse onto themselves. This is one example on how not matter what you do trying to avoid certain situations in life, your fate within time will come true.

Oedipus has several flaws that contribute to his downfall, which the audience fears, as his hubris and zeal leads to many plot actions culminating in the reversal of his good fortune to downfall. Oedipus’ overzealous attempts to seek the truth and run away from his fate evokes an amalgam of pity and fear within the audience. His obstinate desire to discover the identity of Laius’ murderer and his own origin leads to the horrific realization of his actions, despite his belief that his unyielding search for the truth will provide him with glory. He is propitiously warned to abandon his pursuit of the truth, although he unfortunately ignores them. The most significant example of this is when Jocasta pleads with Oedipus to stop pursuing the truth of the identity of his parents when she understands that Oedipus will soon face the insuperable realization of the sins they committed .“In God’s name, if you place any value on your life, don’t pursue the search. It is enough that I am sick to death (77.3.1-3)”. Oedipus is ignorant, intellectually and religiously blind, yet his pride causes him to disregard the warnings of others and hasten his own downfall. At this point, the audience is fully convinced of the veracity of the prophecies and the claims made against Oedipus. The audience feels pity towards Oedipus as they know he is going to face the inexorable realization of his deeds, and Oedipus passionately hastens his own downfall. Oedipus’ hubris plays an

Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles at approximately 430 BC, is viewed as one of the greatest tragic plays of all time. Greek plays were predominantly performed in religious ceremonies in honor of the Greek Gods. This play, whose plot is fulfilled in a day, engages the audience to ponder on the interactions between fate and free will.  It also captivates the minds of the audience by stimulating thought on the implications of obliviousness and knowledge. Initially, Oedipus, the protagonist believes his decisions would help him evade his fate and exert control over his life. However, contrary to his beliefs, his choices lead him to his fate. This essay will explore Sophocles’ characterization of Oedipus to convey: free will or human choices contribute