Who Is Responsible for the Downfall of Oedipus Fate or Free Will?

Oedipus is not responsible for his own destiny because Jocasta and Laius are his birthers, he had no decision in being born. Jocasta and Laius didn’t believe the warning the Oracle gave them so they took every warning with a grain of salt. They ended up having Oedipus, against the Oracle's advice who is essentially a medium for the Gods. The Gods took this as a personal insult and made an example out of Oedipus, to show people what happens when they disobey them and try to run from their fate.

In Oedipus the King, the protagonist, Oedipus, played a major role in the plot of this play. Both his stubbornness and his swift responses are strong qualities that he possesses, and they will prove to be both an asset to him, and a liability that will eventually lead to his demise. Before being crowned as king of Thebes, Oedipus was hailed as savior of the city after he single handedly solved the riddle of the Sphinx, and freed the city from the plague. He would be called upon once again to save the city from the plague that had been placed upon them by Sphinx, but this time serving as king. Acting swiftly and proactively, Oedipus send his brother in-law, Creon, to the oracle in Delphi in the hopes of gaining some advice on how to get rid of the plague before the citizens of Thebes become overly worried. In this situation, his swiftness proved to be an asset to him. As the play continues, and the situation changes, his stubbornness and swiftness will become a major liability to him. After receiving news from Creon that the only way to rid the city of the plague was to expel the murderer of Laius (former King of Thebes), Oedipus vows to find the murderer and begins the process of questioning those around him. The first person he questions is Tiresias (the blind prophet), who after threatening him, tells Oedipus that he in fact is the murderer of Laius. Oedipus’s stubbornness gets the better of him and he refuses to believe what Tiresias has told him. He then accuses both

In Oedipus the King all three characters: Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are all seen as tragic figures and victims of Fate. Throughout the play, characteristics of free will are what brought the destruction and downfall of each of these characters. It was Oedipus’s pursuit of knowledge and identity, Jocasta’s arrogance of the prophecy, and Laius and Jocasta’s attempt to avoid the prophecy by killing Oedipus that led to their tragic endings. It how these feuding concepts of Fate vs Freewill mix together that make up the Greek Tragedy. Sophocles Ultimately ends Oedipus the King with the belief that free willed decisions and actions cannot overcome and defeat fate.

As Oedipus speaks with the people, his brother-in-law Creon, whom he had sent to inquire of the Oracle at Delphi, returns with a message from the gods. With characteristic rashness, Oedipus has only seconds before vowed to fulfill whatever "act or pledge of mine may save the city" (Prologue 74, emphasis added). Having allowed the adulation of the people to go to his head, he cannot shake the vision of hero-protector; he still arrogantly regards himself as the sole hope of the city: ". . . I should do ill/To scant whatever duty God reveals," he proclaims (Prologue 79). At this point, his delusions are masked by his concern for the people; yet they foreshadow the ugly hubris he will manifest plainly in Scenes I and II as he basely accuses

In his search for justice, Oedipus is unrelenting; Oedipus rages against Creon, stating that King Laius murder must be brought out to light. Oedipus’s words and disbelief at the knowledge that Laius was killed without a thorough investigation, foreshadow his relentless search for the truth. As he takes on the role of the avenging punisher at the start of the play, he is trying to learn who he is as much as when he is interrogating the herdsman regarding the secret of his birth at the end. Demonstrating the importance of the truth to Oedipus, Oedipus’s investigation trumps Tiresias’s warnings which repeat the same words from the prophecy that the Oracle of Delphi told him. Furthermore, Oedipus’s subsequent actions demonstrate

Oedipus’ fate is one that he learns relatively early in his life, and takes measures to avoid; however, ultimately the measures that he takes to avoid his fate are what bring it about. Oedipus is told that “what will be, will be” (Sophocles 35) no matter what he does, but nevertheless he chooses not to listen and instead tries to hunt down the truth, despite being told to “not do [this]” (Sophocles 55). In this, Sophocles presents the reader with the greatest irony of the entire play: by utilising his free will to try to escape his fate, Oedipus only manages to fulfill his fate. Upon hearing of Oedipus’ horrible misfortune, the Chorus proclaims “all the generations of mortal man add up to nothing” (Sophocles 59). In the end, the choices Oedipus made in life didn’t change anything; he still fulfilled the prophecy by wedding his mother and killing his father. However, this is not to say that Oedipus didn’t possess or utilize free will. In life, Oedipus acts on his own terms; however, at the same time Oedipus’ life is heavily influenced by his refusal to accept his fate. By placing the concepts of fate and free will so closely together, Sophocles forces the reader to consider their relationship with each other. The Shepherd tells Oedipus “If you are the man, O then your life is lost” (Sophocles 58). This starkly

But like the prideful individual he was, Oedipus was determined to know who the “real” perpetrator was. Teiresias is utterly disheartened and tempered that his king has rejected his readings, claiming that he is lying, or even plotting against him. He truly believed Teiresias was a false prophet, refusing to accept the fact that he could ever have committed such a horrendous act. Teiresias, unable to convince the king, depicts that Oedipus may have eyes, but he did not see. Oedipus, however, feels as if he sees even more than the prophet; that he can see through the oracle. Ironically, Sophocles had Oedipus gouge his own eyes out, a reference to the fact that the king was figuratively blind.

The Greeks believed fate was the cause also because Oedipus acted on free will made this so. "Power corrupts karma those who have power usually become corrupt by it-Oedipus arrogance and blindness and hubris behavior truly gets the best of them, someone who displays hubris behavior similar to the antagonist is only setting up himself for further destruction". Oedipus ended up meeting with this biological father which he was trying to avoid. Oedipus was also living in darkness all the while and probably this accounted for part of the fact of what was happening. Oedipus would never kill his real father and that was why Oedipus was trying to run away. He did not want to kill him thus, marrying his mother. Fate is played out throughout the play for it was fate that apparently mapped out Oedipus' misfortunes. To account for his change of attitude and manner by comparing his speech and behavior in the opening and closing scenes, Oedipus is partly to blame for some of what happened on the other half he can't he faulted for that. Nevertheless, he himself can be credited for his misfortune because he was trying to find  King Laios' real killer however in so doing he discovered who he

In the play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Oedipus becomes more self-aware throughout the play as he learns the truth about his fate. As a young child Oedipus has a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, when he comes of age he leaves his parents in fear he will fulfill the prophecy. Though he doesn't know he was given away when he was a baby. A terrible plague has struck Oedipus's city, Thebes. After Creon, Oedipus righthand man, comes back from visiting Apollo, Oedipus learns what must happen for his city to be saved from the plague. He must find the killer of Laius, the former king of Thebes, who is in the city. Oedipus desperate for answers calls on Tiresias, the blind prophet. While talking to Tiresias, Oedipus

In order for Oedipus to continuously sustain the audience’s, also known as the citizens of Thebes, support and respect, he must demonstrate his traits and leadership abilities. While talking to a prophet, Oedipus begins to grow tense with aggression after hearing the fact that the prophet wouldn’t tell him who killed the previous king of Thebes, Laius. Knowing that the city would continuously have to withhold the plague and illness that was spreading rapidly, Oedipus could not help but question “who would not feel their temper rise...which you shame [Thebes in].” (Sophocles 380-381). Such a simple question not only gives the reader a sense of Oedipus’s motivation and will to save his citizens and help them in whatever way possible, but also depicts how he is always putting others over his own needs. Rather than worrying about what could happen if he actually hurt a prophet, he remorses over the fact that his city needs him and asked for his help, so he would do what he could do in his power to solve and help them. Due to the repeated actions that demonstrates Oedipus’s characteristics, he is known as a “supreme warrior...the supreme intellect... [and one who] rules with strength and wisdom,” (Fisler, “heroism in Oedipus Rex”. Throughout the play, Oedipus defeats a king and his entire entourage single-handedly, rids of the Sphinx by solving her

Oedipus believed that since he knew what was supposed to happen in his life, he would be better prepared and could avoid situations, such as fleeing his parents, or control them, but he could do neither. His longing for the truth and desire for all knowledge, led him to ignore the gods. Some could argue that his character traits, such as stubbornness and egotism led him to the life he had. This led him to push what the gods said to the limits, which ultimately led to his downfall and nothing he did could

Oedipus-the king is a true Greek novel in all sense. It is a tragedy at heart and explores various emotions and instances of human life in a suspenseful and heart trenching way. Oedipus the King unfolds as a murder mystery, a political thriller, and a psychological whodunit (The Oedipus trilogy). In this mythic story of patricide and Oedipal love, Sophocles emphasizes the irony of a man determined to track down, expose, and put the man behind bars who killed king Laius and funny though, the man turns out to be himself. The hero of the play, Oedipus is a ruler of Greek city, Thebes and had become king by solving the riddle of Sphinx and marrying the Queen Jocasta. It totally grips a persons’ interest and tell about the moral values of life. A lot of Themes have been discussed, but the one which seems basic structure of the story is the role of fate in whole play. I think fate played an interesting aspect of Oedipus’ life throughout the play. It was fate which was responsible for most of the circumstances in the story. But was the fate only criterion that led to fall of

Oedipus chooses to blind himself rather than the past making it impossible for him to rule effectively (Zumi). This shows that he is not a victim of fate by uncovering events of past blindness. Bad ones can uncover by good choices. Oedipus chooses to accept it his responsibility and live with dignity. Camus, the absurdist author and philosopher say that Oedipus is an absurd hero where he accepts his choices and not his fate (mstultz72,

Oedipus the King is a story about a prominent king torn by fate and the effect his own actions have upon his destiny. Much can be learned from the catastrophic story of Oedipus, who was prophesied to kill his father, to marry and have children with his own mother. As soon as Oedipus learns of this prophecy, he tries desperately to escape it, by running from his hometown, and even avoiding his supposed parents. Despite the fact that fate may have played some role in Oedipus' demise, it ultimately was brought about by his own free will and his reckless actions. Although he may not realize it, Oedipus' own actions contribute to his downfall; it is his arrogant short temper and his excessive pride that causes him to make the decisions that set

In the story Oedipus The King by Sophocles, the main character, Oedipus, had many flaws that lead him to a tragic and hard hitting downfall. A tragic hero always has a hubris that takes him down in the end, but Oedipus had more than just one. Out of his many flaws, a few of them stuck out more than others. His problems made him push himself to the end of his reputation as a hero. Oedipus was Impatient, would not take advice, and made very quick decisions.