Fate In Oedipus The King Essay

The characters in Oedipus the King express many different views on fate, prophecy, and the power of the gods. Characters like the chorus and the leader have solid beliefs in the gods and prophecy, but their faith is shaken many times and is changed based on the events that happen. Other characters like Jocasta refuse to accept the prophecies as truth. Towards the end of the play, however, all have no hesitation in their minds that the power of the gods and prophecies are valid. Everything that was foretold becomes true, extinguishing any doubt and maddening those who did not believe. Thus, Sophocles ultimately suggests that fate is unavoidable and it is unwise to try to alter it. The people of Thebes initially trust all the prophets and seers, but through the course of the play, their faith slowly declines. At the beginning of the play, the chorus has no doubt that the gods
Everyone in the play develops qualms in fate if they did not have them already. These doubts, however, are eventually dismantled. By the time that the play ends, no character can deny the authenticity of destiny based on what they see and experience. Although the chorus’s faith is shaken at first, “[Oedipus], [his] life, [and] [his] destiny,” all become ample proof to them for the existence of fate. Oedipus, like the chorus, starts out believing that Tiresias is gifted and calls him the “master of all the mysteries of life,” but then denounces him a “pious fraud.” Later on, Oedipus finds out that he had in fact fulfilled every part of his prophecy unknowingly. Jocasta, who claimed that “chances rules our lives,” was also proven wrong and killed herself in the trauma of learning the truth. Each character may have had different views on fate and the power of gods, but they all become believers when they witness for themselves the prophecies becoming