Fate In Oedipus The King

In the story, Oedipus fate played an important role in the lives of the characters. To avoid their fate, the main characters did everything in their power to avoid their destinies. Shortly after Oedipus was born

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.

Destined to marry his mother and murder his father, Oedipus was partly guided by fate. This prophecy, as warned by the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, was absolute and would inevitably come to pass. As for free will, Oedipus’ actions, temper, impulsive nature and pride (hubris) as well as his erroneous judgment (hamartia) all

Oedipus is a man of unflagging determination and perseverance, but one who must learn through the working out of a terrible prophecy that there are forces beyond any man’s conceptualization or control. Oedipus’ actions were determined before his birth, yet Oedipus’ actions are entirely determined by the Gods who control him completely. In the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He tried to escape Corinth when he learned of the prophecies that were supposed to take place in his life. Instead, he

Greek Tragedy as viewed from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King brings forth that humanism is always in a struggle for free will, but no matter how hard a person struggles fate fulfills its destiny. The irony with Oedipus is that the audience understood that fate had her way well before King Oedipus acknowledge that his free will did not exist. Oedipus when he first heard of the oracles prophecy that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, attempted to invoke his freewill by running away from home so that he would never lift his spear to kill his father, but running away from his fate simple caused him to run directly into it. Sad part is that Oedipus thought he had successfully avoided fate prediction for his life.

Most people in today's society live their lives based on the belief that fate controls their destiny. But some people still debate on whether we have free will or if some other source, fate, controls our destiny. In Oedipus the King, fate is used and proclaimed much throughout the play. Fate plays an important role in the lives of the characters just as it plays one in our lives to this day.

Throughout the vast history of literature, various concepts have come and gone. The idea of fate or fatalism has been a concept that has survived the test of time. Numerous characters have succumbed to the power of fate and the character of Oedipus from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a prime example of the vast power of fate within literature. Sophocles effectively depicts the wrath of fate as he portrays how Oedipus fell victim to fate and his efforts to disregard fate were futile. Once again fate manages to triumph and displays no character whether king or slave can avoid its gaze.

If prophecy existed in today’s world, one could expect what is going to happen in the future. However, this is existent in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, and the main character, Oedipus signals his doom involuntarily. Fate is the series of events that occur without the person’s control, and Oedipus falls victim to it. Whether it is caused by a foolish parent, a king or ruler, each and every person has fate. Sophocles writes a tragic fate that Oedipus was born to experience, while combating the misconception of free will he also presents.

Oedipus taught that he had escaped his fate from what he knew, by going away from his adopted family but, that action led him to accomplish his fate that was killing his father and sleeping with his mother and have children with her. He killed his father, king Laios, in an argument in a road closes to Thebes for passage rights, solved the riddle of the sphinx and became the king, slept with his mother and had children with her and finally on hearing the truth, removes his sight as a sign of dishonour to him, his family and to the Gods. This shows that fate is something that was beyond human power and that is not possible to chance or avoid it. One definition that can explain why the characters in Greek tragedy were doomed to accomplish their fate would be the fact that both the characters and mankind in the plays lacked both free will and reflective actions that led them to have a fatal fate (Kierkegaard, 1944). It is also the human side that led Oedipus to his fate. The goodness of his actions of trying to get away from what he taught was his real father and mother in order for them to live and escape his fate. For example, Oedipus is taught to be arrogant but, his arrogance can be interpreted by refusing to hear or see or even admit what he has done to try to escape his fate but, eventually, it turned on him in the bad way because his fate still managed to claim his superiority over humans. Another great example of his goodness is the simple fact of him wanting

Oedipus lived a life full of lies and misfortune. It was fate that Oedipus killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus was told he was going to kill his father and marry his mother. The actions of others guided his life to where it ended up. As much as he tried to get rid of the fate he had since he was born, there was nothing anybody could do.

Never let that day begun.” (Roche 45) When Oedipus arrived at the city of Thebes a sphinx was terrorizing the city. “Creon, Jocasta’s brother sought shelter from the Sphinx. He offered the throne to Jocasta and anyone who could solve the riddle. That someone was Oedipus.

Fate and free will are two topics that are often questionable because they go hand in hand. Fate is a belief that a certain event is said to happen, then that person's choice and free will lead them to what has been predicted as inevitable. Knowing whether something is fate’s fault or the fault of the person who’s going to enact the said action, is one question that has never been fully answered. In Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare's Macbeth, fate is determined by their own choices and free will, the character Macbeth knows of what lies ahead of him, making him alter the present to create his idealistic future, however instead he lives a life of ruins. As for Oedipus his entire actions are based on one prophecy he desperately

The events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, suggesting a connection between man 's free will towards perfection in life or fate which the ancient Greeks believed that Gods had given to them. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concepts of fate and free will are a poignant factor and they play an indispensable role in the Oedipus ' destruction. Oedipus was a victim of fate when he was predicted from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father. This prophecy as a warning by the oracle of Apollo, and it certainly will happen, no matter what he would do to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate, but what he did in Thebes, it was decided by his own will.

Sophocles is the author of the famous play, “Oedipus the King”. In case you did not know, Sophocles is from Greece. In Greek mythology there are three goddesses who preside over the birth and life of humans. Each person 's destiny was thought of as a thread spun, measured, and cut by the three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. In the story “Oedipus the King” fate and destiny was the main theme. On Google the definition of destiny is the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future. Fate is defined as, the development of events beyond a person 's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. In this paper I will be analyzing the story to help you understand the significance of destiny and fate to the story.

Oedipus’s life and destiny was said to be set by the god’s, but together with his parent’s lies and his own ignorance, he brought upon his downfall foretold so long ago. It was only when he was born that a prophecy of Oedipus, who was to kill his father and marry his mother. Terrified and without much thought of the consequences, Iokaste and Laius abandoned the child to die. Oedipus did not die. Instead he became a strong and well respected prince, who believed his real parents were king and queen of Corinth. Oedipus’s adoptive parents kept him in the dark about his true identity. For this reason, when ignorant Oedipus hears of his prophecy, he runs away terrified. Ironically, on his journey away from home, he encounters his real father, Laius King of Thebes, which he kills due to an argument. Moreover, he goes on to become King of Thebes and husband of Iokaste, his biological mother. So, without realizing, the fate that Oedipus wanted to impede so badly occurs right before his eyes, showing that fate “lies within Apollo’s competence/As it is his concern” (Oed.