Fate Vs. Free Will In Sophocles Oedipus The King
Gervanna Stephens
Dr. Carol Fider
ENGL335 World Literature
22 June 2012
Fate versus Free will as portrayed in Oedipus the King. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines fate as ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.’ This therefore would pose opposition to free will, defined as ‘the power of acting without constraint…at one’s own discretion.’ This concept of the oppositions of fate and free will are a poignant factor in Sophocles Oedipus the King. “Fate was the will of the gods, a reality that could not be opposed, ritually revealed by the oracle of Delphi who spoke for Apollo himself,” (Higgins). In the story’s beginning, we see where Oedipus has sent Creon to see the oracle, “…for Creon, Menoeceus’ son, my own wife’s brother, to the Delphic shrine of Phoebus I have sent that he might ask what act or speech of mine should save the state” (335). …show more content…
A messenger sent to Thebes from Corinth reveals this unto Oedipus, “among Kithaeron’s wooded folds I found thee…I rescued thee…I loosed thy feet, pierced through and bound with cords,” (356). It is therefore seen that the child was not killed in the mountains as had been thought. When Oedipus hears that he will kill his father and marry his mother, he flees Corinth, “I was doomed to marry with my mother…the murderer of the father who begat me. And hearing this I fled…away from Corinth, never to return—” (350-351). The flight of Oedipus from Corinth acts as him exercising his free will, for he believed Polybus and Merope his real parents. The audience and reader however, understand that the workings of fate and destiny are in motion, actually guiding Oedipus to do the exact thing from which he is running. This idea lends itself to the thought that fate trumps any sort of “free will” man may think he
Dr. Carol Fider
ENGL335 World Literature
22 June 2012
Fate versus Free will as portrayed in Oedipus the King. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines fate as ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.’ This therefore would pose opposition to free will, defined as ‘the power of acting without constraint…at one’s own discretion.’ This concept of the oppositions of fate and free will are a poignant factor in Sophocles Oedipus the King. “Fate was the will of the gods, a reality that could not be opposed, ritually revealed by the oracle of Delphi who spoke for Apollo himself,” (Higgins). In the story’s beginning, we see where Oedipus has sent Creon to see the oracle, “…for Creon, Menoeceus’ son, my own wife’s brother, to the Delphic shrine of Phoebus I have sent that he might ask what act or speech of mine should save the state” (335). …show more content…
A messenger sent to Thebes from Corinth reveals this unto Oedipus, “among Kithaeron’s wooded folds I found thee…I rescued thee…I loosed thy feet, pierced through and bound with cords,” (356). It is therefore seen that the child was not killed in the mountains as had been thought. When Oedipus hears that he will kill his father and marry his mother, he flees Corinth, “I was doomed to marry with my mother…the murderer of the father who begat me. And hearing this I fled…away from Corinth, never to return—” (350-351). The flight of Oedipus from Corinth acts as him exercising his free will, for he believed Polybus and Merope his real parents. The audience and reader however, understand that the workings of fate and destiny are in motion, actually guiding Oedipus to do the exact thing from which he is running. This idea lends itself to the thought that fate trumps any sort of “free will” man may think he