Oedipus Rex Fate Vs Free Will

The Greek drama “Oedipus The King” evidently leads to the unveiling of a tragedy. Oedipus, the protagonist of the play uncovers his tragic birth story and the curse he had been baring his whole life. Oedipus is notorious for his personal insight that helped him defeat Sphinx, which lead him to becoming the king of Thebes. He is admired by the people of Thebes and is considered to be a mature, inelegant and a rational leader. From his birth, his story began with a prophecy that Oedipus would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Through out the play numerous people, who tell him of his unknown past, visit Oedipus. Blind to the truth he casts them away until a blind man named Therisis gives a sight of truth to Oedipus. As Oedipus learns the truth he realizes the great evil his life carries. After finding his wife and also mother hung in her bedroom, Oedipus blinds himself with the gold pins that held Jocasta’s robe. Oedipus blind to the truth is finally able to see when the old blind man visits him and tells him the truth about his life. Both metaphorically and physically sight plays a significant role in understanding the irony of a blind man seeing the truth while Oedipus who isn’t blind doesn’t seem to the truth that’s right in front of him.

To the reader, it is revealed that what you physically se, may not be what you may see mentally. Irony is also shown in Oedipus Rex in relation to blindness. Teiresias’ is also the character who depicts irony throughout

Dramatic irony depends on the audience’s knowing something that the character does not, and in this play the audience knows Oedipus faith before he knows it himself. In this play there are several parts where Sophocles conveys his plot through dramatic irony. Dramatic irony underlines how partial human perceptive can be even when it is most reasonable and how agonizing it can be to be the costs of the misinterpretation, in some sense foreseeable. Dramatic irony is also use by Sophocles to make the audience feel their taken part of the play knowing the fate of the main character, making the audience wait in suspense wanting to know how Oedipus would react to his fate. The other use of the dramatic irony was to foreshadow which is a key

So the irony is Oedipus had no idea that the person who killed Laius would be himself. After hearing this Oedipus is outraged and says it is all a plan for Creon to over throw him. These examples of irony are also examples of fate and free will. It is fate that Oedipus killed the king, his father, but it is free will that he is cursing and accusing himself.

Most people believe eyes are the window to the soul, but in this ancient Greek tragedy, eyes can be an indicator to someone's intelligence level. The blind do not always have the power to see into the future just as those with sight are not always aware of their present day predicaments, but in Ancient Greek, both of those are accurate. Sight and ignorance go hand-in-hand as well as blindness and knowledge do in the story Oedipus by Sophocles. Sophocles uses irony to emphasize positives and negatives for two men, Oedipus, King of Thebes and Tiresias, local Oracle.

As the play unravels, Oedipus struggles to resist his impending fate. He does anything he can to find evidence proving that he is not who Tiresias says he is, but after questioning a messenger and a shepard, he finds his answer: Laius and Jocasta had Oedipus and gave him to a messenger who would soon kill him, but instead was adopted by a new family (Sophocles 55). Oedipus’ self-loathing for his new, inescapable reality inhibits the advancement of his previously untroubled life. His flaw of not being able to overcome outside criticism and the truth triggers him to “speak in blindness” (Sophocles 54). Oedipus’ words are empty and lack meaning because of his failed endeavors at proving that he is not who the people say he is. Because of his proven prophecy, the dreadful news causes the “sorrow-stricken woman’s [, Jocasta’s] end” (Sophocles 57). Additionally, Oedipus is prompted to gouge his own “blind and knowing naught” eyes out (Sophocles 63). Oedipus’ efforts to escape his own identity result in his, and many other characters’ ultimate

In “Oedipus,” Sophocles writes about a man who is hunted down by his cruel fate, and whose life is ruined in attempt to run away from it. The ancient Greek perspective reflects on the matter of the story and how the god’s highly influence the lives of humans. This viewpoint basically shows the unbounded power the Greek gods have; by being the gods of destiny, and leaving man at a helpless position. Fate plays a massive role in the lives of humans and as was believed by the ancient Greeks, their lives were simply directed by a decision of gods and goddesses. Oedipus knew his fate set by a curse cast on him; however, even when being aware it is impossible to escape fate, he still attempted to run away from it. As the play progresses Oedipus begins to understand the unbearable truth as he states “I’ve called down a dreadful curse upon myself,” followed by a response “I simply didn’t know!” (1103). It is the will of the man to realize what is inevitable and what choice is. In the Ancient Greece, Gods were praised and worshiped and any command stated by them is the undecided future. Oedipus acting as a blinded man who did not know of such fact led him to his fate and ironically is what later led him to blind himself (Gould). When Oedipus stabs his eyes out with the

In a few of the stories we have read, a character had been told of fate. There were events that happened to prevent the fate. However, fate was made destiny.

Over the years, most people have wondered what Free will and Fate are all about. Questions like “can people escape their fate?” will always be around as long as we think of them as important points of our life to take care of. In Oedipus Tyrannus, a play written by Sophocles, the concepts of fate and free will are highly regarded in the play’s theme. Through the play, we are shown how a series of events take a man from living a normal life to the fulfilling of a cruel prediction which started long before he was born.

Oedipus’ arrogance and pride taint his cognition and blinds him in his decisions causing his harrowing guilt. While Oedipus is aware of the prophecy and in spite of

     "Listen to me. You mock my blindness, do you?/ But I say that you, with both your eyes, are blind" (I, 195-196). With these memorable words, the sightless prophet Teiresias all but paints the entire tragic story of Sophocles' Oedipus the King, one of the most prominent pieces of Greek literary heritage. Greeks knew and loved the story of Oedipus from childhood, just as children today cherish the story of Cinderella. In his version of the beloved tale, Sophocles concentrates his attention on the events directly leading to Oedipus' destruction, portraying Oedipus as a helpless pawn of fate. The most prominent literary device is dramatic irony, primarily of the spoken word, through which--especially in

In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, dramatic irony helped the audience sympathize with Oedipus and remember that fate is inevitable. This is restated throughout the play through Oedipus trying to escape his fate. The original prophecy was that the Son of King Laos and Queen Iocaste would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus was thus, as a child, kicked out of Thebes and left on a mountain by his real parents once he was born (61-64). Laos and Iocaste tried to avoid their fate and go against the will of the Gods. They believed that if they leave Oedipus by the mountainside and let him die, they could prove the oracle wrong. Another example of inevitable fate is his adoptive parents. His adoptive parents, Polybos and Merope told Oedipus the

My Freshman English teacher in high school told us, “If you take one thing away from this unit (referring to plays) let it be that a good tragedy is filled with irony.” Oedipus being a good tragedy, it too is filled with irony. Possibly the best instance of dramatic irony in this play is the common use of uses of the words eyes, sight, light, and perception all over. When Oedipus declines to trust him, Teiresias cries, "have you eyes, And do not see your own damnation? Eyes, And cannot see what company you keep?" (37). Stated two times in the same breath, the word "eyes" is very clearly being emphasized.. Teiresias knows that Oedipus will himself be sightless; later in the same conversation: "those now clear-seeing eyes, Shall then be darkened"

In order for Sophecles' Greek audience to relate to the tragic figure, he had to have some type of flaws or an error of ways. This brought the character down to a human level, invoking in them the fear that "it could happen to them." Oedipus character is certainly not without flaws. His pride, ignorance, insolence and disbelief in the gods, and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. When Oedipus was told that he was responsible for the murder of Laius, he became enraged and calls the old oracle a liar. He ran away from his home, Corinth, hoping to outsmart god's divine will. Like his father, Oedipus also sought ways to escape the horrible destiny told by the oracle of Apollo. The chorus warns us of man's need to have reverence for the gods, and the dangers of too much pride.

Fate is known as a predetermined course of events that are beyond a person’s control. Those individuals that acclaim their fate are eventually granted happiness over those who deny and try to change it. For years cultural and religious groups have emphasized how important trusting in your fate is. For example, Sophocles’ play entitled Oedipus Rex exemplifies the repercussions of what happens when you slap fate in the face. In Oedipus Rex, the main character, Oedipus tries to run from and change his fate. Oedipus rejects any signs of help, especially signs of his past. Sophocles uses Oedipus as an aid in this play to demonstrate what could happen if you disregard or alter any predictions of your fate. In Oedipus’ life there are three main