Free Will In Sophocles Oedipus Rex

There has been a long standing philosophical debate on the notion of whether humans have free will, in which they are able to do as they please, or if everything is already predetermined, and humans have no control over the events in their lives. In Sophocles’ Athenian tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the plot revolves around the tension between one’s individual action and one’s fate, which one is unable to control. However in the play, Sophocles makes it evident that Oedipus, the protagonist, has no control over the devastating events that pertain to his live but rather external forces, such as fate and the power of the gods/goddesses, are responsible.
By stressing the importance and seriousness of one’s fate, Sophocles suggests that people cannot
However, his very nature of being good leads him to his “hamartia” or mistake, which is still on par with the traits of a tragic hero, because he unintentionally is at fault for his own downfall, though mostly due out of lack of knowledge. Since he believed that Polybus and Merope were his actual parents, Oedipus ran from his home to not allow the oracle’s prophecy to become true. Nonetheless that very action leads him to carry out the prophecy that he so desperately wished to evade. Even as Oedipus starts to piece together the very truth that leads to his demise, the people around him warn him that he should not hear the truth, yet due to his good character and vow to find Laius’ murderer in order to clear out the “darkness” that has befallen the city, he pleads that “it needs [to] be [heard]” (70). This makes it evident that Oedipus’ actions though on their own without context are crimes, it is his very ignorance which allows him- a good man- to commit such horrendous acts, because he is willing to gain knowledge that many around him know will bring about his downfall in order for his people to find peace and