Oedipus And Fate Essay

“It is not fate that I should be your ruin, Apollo is enough; it is his care to work this out.” Fate and destiny, being one in the same, have tortured men’s thoughts throughout the ages with its questions and uncertainty. Throughout history, there have been many prophecies and fortunes told to great rulers and kingships that have yielded that very fate in which the prophecy forecasted. Oedipus, king and benefactor of Thebes, succumbs to the prophecy once set forth by the gods and interpreted by oracles, to a fate of incest and murder. “I, Oedipus whom all men call the great” yields to the darkness of his life and blinded eyes as the revelation of his identity is revealed and the fulfilled prophecy that once was. “Oedipus is completely fated. He simply has no free choice.”, this is an agreeable understatement for King Oedipus.
Young Oedipus did not have a choice as his biological parents, Jocasta and Laius, bound their little boy’s feet and sent him upon a mountain and left for dead due to the same prophecy foretold to them in the early days of Oedipus’ life. Saved by a shepherd man and Laius’s servant, Oedipus was taken to Corinth and taken as the son of the King and Queen. Thought to be his natural parents, plagued by the same prophecy, he visited an oracle in the city of Delphi and the same prophecy was revealed to him that he would kill his father. Due to this information, Oedipus leaves his home of Corinth and journeys to Thebes. Along this journey, he encounters a band of travelers where he had to defend himself against their harassment and kills all but one. Saved is one shepherd, how peculiar? As the story unfolds, more is revealed after Oedipus takes the throne as the King of Thebes. His new wife and queen, Jocasta at his side, try to unravel the mystery in regards to her late husband’s