Free Will Oedipus The King Essay

One of the most apparent themes in literature is the idea of fate. Greek tragedies like Oedipus Rex emphasize the idea of fate the most, and Oedipus becomes a victim of fate in the story. Whether Oedipus deserved this fate or not is conflicted, but based on his history it seems that his fate was just. Oedipus seemed to deserve his fate due to the fact he killed King Laius, married a woman he barely knew, and disregarded the warnings of the oracle. While he did try to halt his fate, he became blinded by hubris and rage, and ignored the warnings. These fatal flaws made by Oedipus drove him right towards his prophecy, leaving him to face the wrath of his fate.

Equally important to the role of fate in bringing about the downfall of Oedipus is the human flaw of arrogance that clouded Oedipus’ intellect to reason. One can ultimately see this human flaw in the beginning of the play as he says “Here I am myself – you all know me, the world knows my fame: I am Oedipus” (p 262, line 7-9). One day Oedipus heard someone say that he wasn’t his father’s son in which bothered him greatly and triggered his curiosity in whether Polybus and Merope were his biological parents. So, as a way to figure out his identity and true origins, he left to Delphi to see the Oracle. However, instead of answering Oedipus’ answer of who his true parents were, the Oracle told him of his fate that “You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see – you will kill your father the one who gave you life” (p. 297, lines 873-875). Hence, his arrogance is clearly showed as he disregards the prophecy, similar to the actions of Laius and Jocasta by escaping it, as he abandons Corinth and sets forth to a place where he “would never see the shame of all those oracles come true” (p. 297, lines 879-880). His flaw of

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of a man who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The story continues in the tradition of classic Greek plays, which were based upon the Greeks’ beliefs at the time. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods decided what would ultimately happen to each and every person. Since those gods destined Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus’ life was definitely fated. However, the gods only decided where Oedipus’ life would eventually lead; they never planned the route he would take to get there. All the decisions that Oedipus made in order to fulfill his destiny, and the decisions he made after the fact, were of his own free will,

Oedipus the King, was written by Sophocles between C.A.496-406B.C. In this play, Oedipus is a great example of Sophocles’ belief that fate will control a man’s life no matter how much free will exists.

When thinking of who is responsible for the tragedy of Oedipus, I tend to lean towards fate. Since the beginning, it was Oedipus' fate to kill his father and marry his mother. He spent most of his life attempting to avoid this, but all of his actions simply brought him closer to his fate. Fate knew Oedipus' end from the beginning and the oracles were always right in what they predicted for him. I think the gods are so nasty to Oedipus because he tried to avoid his prophecy by leaving his believed parents. I believe Oedipus has free will, but no matter what he chose to do, his fate would have remained the same at the end.

“With free will comes consequences.”When your own free will you can wrong decisions very quickly and hurt you or someone else in the process. The choices you make can plan your life the opposite of they way you want to live them.The play is about a man named Oedipus who was the king of Thebes. They people of thebes are complaining to him about the plaque. They ask him to pray to the gods for help, so they do not die like the others died of sickness. The gods tell him he has to find the person who killed the king before him, King Laius. At the end of the story he figures out that Laius is his father and he killed him and that he married his mother. When he finds out that he caused his people so much pain he couldn’t bare to see so he stabbed his eyes out and his wife Jocasta hanged herself because she could not bear to live with the sorrow of marrying her son. By exercising his free will, Oedipus’ actions lead to his downfall.

Do we have control in our lives or is our lives in the hands of a higher power like the gods? Well in the play that Sophocles wrote, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus, the main character, tried to avoid a prophecy, that said he would kill his father and marry his mother. The actions of Oedipus, and the action of others, made his control, powerless, which played a role in the outcome of his life. However, Oedipus had tragic flaws and poor choices in the play which, again, played the most in his life's outcome. Sophocles uses dramatic irony throughout the play to heighten the truth that Oedipus is so blind to see. He also uses dramatic irony to show that Oedipus life is free will instead of fate because Oedipus choose his path regardless of the prophecy.

The people throughout Oedipus’ life trues very hard to allow him to escape his fate of killing his father and then marrying his mother. In the epic poem Oedipus the King, Sophocles tells the story of the tragic downfall of Oedipus. Although many people see the role of free will that brought upon Oedipus’ doom, no matter what choices were made throughout his life, his ultimate fate would always return.

Ancient literature often features conflict between the free will of man and the inexorable decree of the gods, such as the infamous play Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles. When Apollo sent a plague to Thebes, King Oedipus guaranteed to reveal the murderer of King Laius, only to realize that Laius was his father. To make matters dramatically worse, Oedipus unknowingly married his own mother, Jocasta, shortly after he killed Laius in a fit of rage. While it could be argued that the prophecy was unyielding, it is important to note that Oedipus’s behavior is not completely benign. Oedipus brought about his own vile fate through his senseless rage and several errors.

Others believe that one’s life is based on free will actions, the person’s choices will decide where their life goes. This is known as the theme “fate versus free will”, basically the argument of everything happening for a reason and your life is planned out already or the personal choices one makes will decide where their future leads them. This theme is present throughout the entirety of the play, Oedipus the King. Throughout this play, Oedipus is struggling with many battles, like his pride but, most importantly, the need to avoid the fate prophesied for him. Once he talked with Teiresias, Oedipus had seemed outraged at the fate he was destined. This fate being that he will marry his mother and kill his father. He was determined to not have this as his fate, leading him to perform his own actions. But the question remains, was he a victim of fate or free will? The answer being, that it is a complex variety of both. Although his fate was determined already for him, his actions, after hearing that fate, led him by his own free will into

The famed tragedian Sophocles is known for his unique ideas and intellect. Sophocles carefully utilizes of all of his intelligence and creative ability in order to make use of illuminating moments throughout the play which allow his audience to draw conclusions about free will, fate, knowledge, and power throughout perhaps his most iconic play, Oedipus Rex. the main character Oedipus experiences an illuminating moment when he gouges his eyes out at the discovery of the truth about his actions. This illumination is expressed in order to express Sophocles’ idea that fate overpowers free will.

In the scenes preceding the third choral ode, Jocasta is quick to deny the legitimacy of prophecies and oracles by speaking of her past experiences in the hopes of reassuring Oedipus. She recounts a time when a prophet claimed that her son would be doomed to kill her husband, but in the end, it would’ve been an impossible task for her poor son. With this, she dismisses both the power of prophecies while also inadvertently undermining the authority of the gods. However, as the people of Thebes watch over this pitiful scene of denial, they continue to convey their changing views on the power of gods vs. man. Although they are sympathetic to Oedipus’ situation, the chorus cannot help but reinforce the power of destiny held in the hands of the gods and

By definition fate is “the development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.” The key concept being the fact that events are beyond a person’s control. And if they are beyond our control, then how can anyone be held accountable for any crime they’ve committed or bad decision they’ve made. But if we throw the idea of fate out the window, then we are left with only free will controlling our lives. So in the story of Oedipus the King whether or not Oedipus is at fault for killing his father and sleeping with his mother is completely dependent on what side wins out in the battle of fate versus free will.

Oedipus Tyrannus is a play by Sophocles. “Is Oedipus a play about a man who is fated to do the things he’s done, is it about a man who through ignorance committed abominable acts, but then, acting on his own free will set to right the wrongs he’d done, or is it a play about the fate of man in general-that we are the playthings of the gods, that we are without free will, and that we must reconcile ourselves to our fates?” (Essay 2) It’s hard to decide on just one view. On one hand the play seems to favor the view that our fate is already been determined. But, on the other the play seems to favor the fact that, we do in fact have free will. However, he will never blame his heartache on the gods, and at least Oedipus believes he has

Fate and free will shows up in many stories, and plays a vital role in building up a character, or leading to their downfall. Fate and free will is a big theme in Oedipus Rex, and is the building bone to many of the characters lives. In Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, Oedipus becomes king of Thebes. Before Oedipus came into power, the previous king of Thebes, Laius, was mysteriously murdered. A Sphinx came into power as the city had no king. However, Oedipus is able to save the city by answering the riddle told by the Sphinx, which no one else could figure out. The people of the city praise him for freeing them and Oedipus becomes king, and marries Jocasta. He is a strong and brave leader who is respected by the people of Thebes. However, after