In Oedipus the King, the main character Oedipus as well as his parents Jocasta and Laius were fated by the gods. It was prophesied that the child of Laius and Jocasta, Oedipus, would kill his father and marry his mother. Afraid of this prophecy coming true, Jocasta and Laius sought to avoid their fate by piercing a spike through baby Oedipus’ ankles and leaving him on a mountaintop to die and therefore preventing the events the prophecy predicted from occurring. However, because of the actions they took to avoid their fate, they actually caused the prophecy to come true. Oedipus is rescued and put in the care of an adoptive family who he believes are his real parents. Because of this, Oedipus runs away from home after hearing the prophecy several years later because he does not want to kill his father or marry his mother. However, his action actually causes the prophecy to come true as he kills his real birth father, Laius, and marries his birth mother, Jocasta, unaware that he was adopted after being found abandoned on the mountainside. In this way, by trying to avoid their fate, Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius actually cause it to happen.…
It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King. However, it not fair for Oedipus to take full responsibility of killing his father and having an incent relationship with Queen Jocasta because fate has overcome his free will.…
Oedipus later finds out that even though he escaped his fate when he was born (when he was spared from death and crowned prince of Corinth), the boundaries of his free will led him back to the inevitable fate that the gods had in store for him. When Oedipus discovers this, he cries out and says, “Apollo, he ordained my agonies, these, my pains… I did it myself! What good were eyes to me? Nothing I could see could bring me joy.” (Sophocles, Ln. 1467-1473) Here, Oedipus is blaming Apollo for his troubles, but then goes on to admit that it was he too who was to blame for what happened. This shows the audience that as much as it was his free will that had a hand in his depression, it was also in the hands of the Gods, and that there is no escaping…
Despite all efforts, Oedipus could not change his pre-determined fate. He did all in his power to avoid both prophecies, such as running away from Corinth to avoid contact with his known parents, Polybus and Merope. "...I must be banished from Thebes, and then I may not even see my own parents or set foot on my own fatherland-or else I am doomed to marry my own mother and kill my father Polybus..."(Pg:57) On this trip, Oedipus came across a man in a carriage and killed him because he failed to abide by the right of way. After killing the man in the carriage, Oedipus makes his way to Thebes where he concurred the Sphinx and married the Queen of Thebes, Jocasta.…
In Sophocles’ O edipus The King, Oedipus was born with the curse that he would kill his father, Laios, and marry his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus tries to avoid his fate by running away from Corinth, however this causes him and Laios to meet one last time, and Oedipus ends up fulfilling the prophecy. With this in mind, the gods create a person’s predetermined fate, and no one can ever escape it, as Jocasta points out; “No mortal can practise the art of prophecy, no man can see the future.” (935). O edipus The King i llustrates t hat the gods have the ultimate power in people's’ lives rather than free will of the people, an individual cannot overcome fate because the gods determine their future, and personalities are chosen by the gods and as well…
They said that ‘love conquers all’ and yes it is indeed true, it is something that gives us hope and reason to fight and to live in this challenging world. The story of Odyssey made me realize that we should be patient, humble, brave and do not underestimate the power of God just only because we did something great and we see ourselves as the greatest among all. Odysseus faced a lot of challenges because of one mistake but he didn’t lose hope because of his love to his family and kingdom.…
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (rpt. in James P. Place, Literature: A reader for Freshman Composition II, 1st ed. [Boston: Pearson, 2011] 122-168), the oracles had prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and beget children by his mother. Oedipus does not want to do the things that Apollo predicted; he is no puppet, but indeed the controller of his own fate. Oedipus was unwilling to have his fate come true; he was frightened that he would kill his adopted parents. He believes they were his real parents, therefore he left to Thebes. The decision he made was based on the stories he heard. This led to Oedipus’s own downfall.…
The argument on whether free will or fate governs the destinies of human beings has been the main topic of various writings, such as the tale of Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles. Oedipus demonstrated to have a fulfilling praise life by many to see, however, he had a past or a fate unknown to him. His naive and stubborn personality made this lie an even greater tragedy. As Mike Kelley once said “Guilt is a powerful affliction. You can try to turn your back on it, but that’s when it sneaks up behind you and eats you alive. Some people struggle to understand their own guilt, unwilling or unable to justify the part they play in it. Others run away from their guilt, shedding their conscience until there’s no conscience left at all.” Oedipus guilt…
Oedipus unwillingly has fulfilled the prophecy that was told to him from the beginning. Oedipus tries to avoid his fate by all means necessary, but fate falls into place in the strangest ways possible. He was abandoned by his biological parents as a child and was adopted by Polybus and Merope. Fate always has a way of removing the option of free will to fulfill its task. Oedipus ran from his fate ever since and no matter how much he ran, fate always found him leaving him without the option of free…
If the culture someone was in was very religious, Oedipus the King would be a play that explains how fate is too powerful to conquer. Oedipus’s fate was what caused his downfall, there was nothing he could do. Depending on what religion their culture is fond of, the god/gods would have wanted Oedipus to kill his own father, marry his mother, and stab his eyes out. Oedipus couldn’t have done anything about it. Fate led Oedipus to the crossroads as said in the play, "Short work, by god-with one blow of the staff" (Sophocles 189). Fate was the one that decided all his actions. If the audience was religious, they would have felt bad for Oedipus because there was nothing he could have possibly done to avoid his fate. On the contrary, in a culture where religion is not prevalent, free will would be the theme that is the most prominent. The whole play would be about how Oedipus chose to kill his father and marry his mother, due to his actions and decisions. For starters, Oedipus could have neglected the throne when he solves the Sphinx riddle. If he had refused to take the throne, he wouldn’t have married his mother and the situation all together. Not only that, considering he chose to find out about his fate, his free will is based on his drive for knowledge. Oedipus’s expressed this determination when he said, "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). This quote expresses how his own ignorance led to his downfall in the end. He had the option of dropping the whole situation, but he decided to continue. If someone that grew up in a culture where free will was a common…
When Oedipus is completely blind to the truth, he is safe from fulfilling his terrible destiny. It is when he begins to see the truth that he starts to approach his fate. "...a drunken man maundering in his cups / Cries out that I am not my father's son! / ...the suspicion / Remained always aching in my mind," Here, on page 42, Oedipus, in a very minor way, starts to see the truth. By becoming slightly aware of the truth, Oedipus's situation only got worse as his knowledge only escalated with every curious inquiry. Because of what the drunkard said, Oedipus learned about the oracle ("[Oedipus] should lie with [his] own mother... / ...and that he should be his father's murderer" (42) ) and fled for safety from what he thought was his fate. However, he was doing the exact opposite; while fleeing from Corinth, he met his real father, King Laїos, and killed him. He then made his way to Thebes where he married his real mother, Iocaste.…
Even though what the drunkard said was actually true, Oedipus could take blame for what will come into his horrible future if he had only just believed his parents when they said that they were in fact his real parents. Though, in doing so his adopted parents would force Oedipus to be living a life of lies, but he would be happy, it would have not been in vain, and no one would get hurt. The oracle then told him the very same thing she told his actual birth parents, Laius and Jocasta that his inevitable fate was he was destined to murder his father and marry his mother and have children with her. Even though prophecies from an oracle are inevitable, he decided to try and avoid such a horrible fate like that, so he left and decided it was best to never return…
The oracle, put upon Oedipus from his birth, condemned him from the start. First, the fear of this prophecy that Laius and Jocasta, his birth parents, were told caused them to have their sons feet nailed together and leave him to die on a mountain. The second time the oracle is told, Oedipus is a young man, and hears it for himself. Assuming that it applies to Polybus and Merope, his adoptive parents, he flees Corinth. "As this I fled away, putting the stars between me and Corinth, never to see home again, that no such horror should ever come to pass." (795-797) Last, instead of just living out his life and destiny, Oedipus tries to run from it. This causes Oedipus to think he has overcome the oracle. By running, however, he just made it worse by coming closer to his real problem. Oedipus can't escape the relentless fate that pursues him. Inevitably the oracles prophecies are fulfilled. By being kept in the dark about his past, Oedipus is living a lie. Not knowing the true identity of his parents causes him to murder his father. Soon after that Oedipus reaches Thebes, and by answering the Sphinx's riddle, he becomes king and marries his mother, the queen, who he doesn't know is his mother. For years Oedipus lives this sin and lie, and rules Thebes in wealth and prosperity while having four children. With all these things done, the world seems to be trapping…
It is always said that we are all predestined with a set prophecy. No matter how much one tries to escape it, our fate will always conquer. Whether it’s finding the right person who you are going to marry or the career path a person chooses, it’s all up to the decision of fate. Knowing ones fate can either uplift or destroy a person because of the path it permits the person to take. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is a prime example of how one’s fate destroys him and he couldn’t escape it. Oedipus being the main character, gains knowledge of his horrid fate and attempts to break away from it. Because Oedipus gains knowledge of his fate and does try and run from it, he mistakenly kills his father and marries his mother, denies the truth, and blinds himself.…
In the play, people lived their lives based on fate. The people relied on oracles to reveal this fate. Oedipus attempted to control this by using his free will. The oracle disclosed that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus wanted to prevent this from happening so he used his free will to control his life’s direction. He chose to leave his home in Corinth. He moved to the town of Thebes, where he met his love and had four children. Unbeknownst to him, fate had taken over and he moved to the city Thebes, where his birth parents actually lived. His love was later revealed as his birth mother.…