Free Will

Muhammad Zaid
Prof. Dr. Asim Karim
28 January 2013
FREE WILL IN GREEK TRAGEDIES
ABSTRACT
There are many occasions in the Greek tragedies where the characters are making decisions according to their own free will. They are not merely the puppets in the hands of fate and gods but their own motives surpass over all other influences. if they are performing any action or making any decision by following the gods even at that time their inner feelings and desires are there that compel them to act or decide according to their own will.
Keywords: free will, fate, gods, personal motives, free will in Sophocles and Aeschylus’s tragedies.
INTRODUCTION
In Greek tragedies the role of free will is a debatable issue because for some critics Greek characters are merely puppets in the hands of some superior forces. But for some other critics they are free to act and make their own decisions according to their own will. Those who are not in the favour of free will argue that it was Agamemnon who started the war against Trojans and killed his daughters by the will of superior forces and remained puppet in the hands of gods. Same is the case with Oedipus the king who remained a puppet in the hands of superior forces and did nothing by his own free will. By the bird eye look it seems there is no free will in Greek tragedies and characters are merely puppets in the hands of gods, but when we read the tragedies between the lines it becomes clear that characters in Greek tragedies are not merely the puppets but they have their own free will to act and decide.
FREE WILL IN GREEK TRAGEDIES “There is a misconception that Greek tragedy basically shows the working of fate, of men fastened to the puppetry of higher powers…But this tendency does not, with in the whole compass of a drama, preclude the free will of the characters or their responsibility, nor does it render their whole life puppetry. Most of the time they are presented as free agents working out their own destinies – as a rule disastrously, since this is tragedy. But sometimes they are seen in fatalistic terms; and sometimes the two motivations, human and superhuman, are seen conspiring together. But never, except perhaps in mad scenes, are the characters of Greek tragedy portrayed as automata or marionettes. Even when they are viewed as victims of the gods, they remain human and independent”. (Taplin 06) Agamemnon was sent to war against Trojans by the will of gods, here he is not working as a free agent but when the ships are struck in the sea, now he has two roads before him and have to select any one, either slaughter his daughter or withdraw the war to save her daughter’s life. But here it was his own military will that inspires him to start the war. Being a warier and general he thought it shameful to postpone the war. Here his personal motives and will dominates over all other forces. “The sacrifice of Iphogenia is not only a horrible necessity imposed upon Agamemnon, it is at the same time, his personal and his passionately desired deed, for which he is responsible and for which he has to atone. If one makes a clear logical distinction, of course one will say: ‘A man who acts under necessity is not acting voluntarily”. (Lesky 18) He becomes so hardened and determined that the begging of her child could not change his decision. There was military zeal in Agamemnon that’s why he did not give any ears to Iphogenia’s begging. “Her prayers and her cries of father / Her life of a maiden / Counted for nothing with those militarists”. (Agamemnon 268- 270) When Agamemnon and his soldiers were surrounded in storm, why not the gods come to their rescue?. Their fleet remained stuck in the mid of sea. “The winds that blew from the strymon/ Bringing delay, hunger,evil harbourage/ Crazing men, rotting ships and cables”. (Agamemnon 227- 229) It means he was free what to do because at that moment gods did not compel him to go forward to start the war. It shows that here what he decided it was his own free will not any kind of compulsion from outside. Agamemnon first of all thanks to the gods after coming back from Troy as a victorious general. He thanked the gods for aiding him in the war. “But now, entering the halls where stands my hearth/ First I shall make salutation to the gods”. (Agamemnon 538- 539) Why is he paying salutation to the gods? Here his salutation to the gods makes it clear that his own willing was there to start the war and to take his own revenge. It was he who went to the gods nor the gods sent their regards to him through any oracle. He looks happy although he has lost his daughter because on the other hand he has won his personal motives. Although the slaughtering of innocent iphoginea roused the anger of the gods, who sent Clytemnestra as an agent of revenge, but Clytemnestra as chorus’ leader says, “Woman, you speak with sense like a prudent man”. (Agamemnon 351) Such a woman with manly features never like that a man who is brave and strong like Agamemnon rule over her that’s why she inclined towards Aegisthus, who was a coward man and easy to mould. Secondly she wanted to keep her love affairs secret to Agamemnon that why she killed him. She did the act of regicide not to please the gods by taking the revenge of an innocent girl but on the contrary of gods’s will, she killed the king to fulfill her own desires. Here again personal motives are dominating over all other external forces. It means characters in Greek tragedies are responsible for their own deeds. They love to live free according to their own will that’s why Clytemnestra killed her husband to make her decisions by her own will. Orestes did the act of matricide not by the oracle of god, Apollo but his own motive can be seen by reading the text deeply. When Clytemnestra begged for mercy, Orestes did not tell her that he will not leave the decision because he have been sent by the god, Apollo and he have to follow the god at any cost but he claimed his own personal motives to take the revenge of his father. Here he was not the puppet in the hands of god, Apollo but he himself was willing to kill the murderer of his father. “You killed the man you should not kill, and now you will suffer what no one should ever see”. (Libation Bearers 930) Greek loved the freedom a lot and for them to be free was a matter of great honor. They did not like to be merely the puppet or live the life under the influence of any external power. They liked to be free that’s why Orestes said to her mother just before killing to her, “You sold me in disgrace – free man’s son”. (Libation Bearers 1136) After killing the mother, his own will and desire had been cleared by the following lines that how much he hated the lady who did the treachery with his father, “Here you see them—this pair of tyrants. They killed my father, then robbed my home. Once they sat enthroned in regal splendour. They're lovers still, as you can witness here by how they died, true to the oaths they swore. They made a pact to murder my poor father”. (Libation Bearers 1220-1225) Oedipus compelled the blind prophet, Tiresias to reveal the truth. it was king’s own will to go deeper in search of truth because the prophet told him not to compel him to tell the truth, but king’s anger caused the revealing of truth. “You have seen fit to taunt me with my blindness. Therefore I tell you this”. (Oedipus the King 395). Chorus also suggested the king not to decide or do any act in anger. “Anger serves no purpose”. (Oedipus the King 387).But the king did not value any one’s suggestion but he acted according to his own accord. Oedipus is not fully following the gods but he is also declaring the gods treacherous. “Apollo is this your trick or is it creon’s”? (Oedipus the King 359) At the end his wife begged not to go further in search of truth but again he did according to his own will. “Listen, I beg you! Listen! Do not do this!” (Oedipus the King 1019)
In extreme anger Oedipus blinded himself; it was once again his own anger that became the cause of his blindness. Fate or gods are not responsible for it. Even the king himself accepted this fact that it was his own anger and short temper that made him blind. “Free will is a phylosphical issue to explain. There have been times and places, in human history when men are governed by fate. Same is the case in Greek tragedies where we see the influence of fate. But it is not the fate totaly that controls the lives of individuals but it is their free will that can be seen in these characters. They give value to freedom above all other things .They liked to be free and not to come under any kind of yoke. When Oedipus killed his father and wedded his mother, he was the victim of gods but when he blinded himself, he was a free agent”. (Ingram 128) Thus the characters in Greek tragedies are not merely the puppets in the hands of superior forces but there are a lot of occasions in the plays where their own free will and motives are responsible. They loved to be free and make the decisions by their own will. Role of fate or gods can not be totally ignored but their own free will and personal motives dominate all other influences. Their own personal likes and dislikes are always there and they themselves are responsible for their actions.

REFRENCES
Ingram, R.P Winnington. (1990). Fate in Sophocles. Sophocles Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. London: Cambridge university press.
Lesky, Albin. (1983). Decision and Responsibility in Aeschylus. Oxford Readings in Greek Tragedy. Ed. Erich Segal. London: Oxford university press.
Taplin, Oliver. (1983). Emotion and Meaning in Greek Tragedy. Oxford Readings in Greek Tragedy. Ed. Erich Segal. London: Oxford university press.