Is Oedipus Responsible for His Own Destiny? Essay

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Oedipus

Fate vs. free will is one of the most prevailing themes in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. From the outset of the play, Sophocles presents the title character's fate as being preordained, and possibly immutable. The gods have determined that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother, thereby causing a great tragedy of events over which Oedipus appears impotent and unable to change. The Oracle of Delphi is the one who first points his fate out to Oedipus. However, Tiresias the blind prophet is the second to remind Oedipus of his fate, at a critical moment he chose to ignore. Tiresias states, "And of the children, inmates of his home, / He shall be proved the brother and the sire, / Of her who bare him son and husband both, / Co-partner, and assassin of his sire," (Sophocles). The truth that the Oracle at Delphi and the blind prophet Tiresias have delivered, that Oedipus will murder his father and marry his mother, is too painful for the king to stomach. Sophocles uses moral ambiguity liberally in Oedipus to show that it makes sense that the King would rebel against his terrible fate and ignore what the oracle and Tiresias tell him. Moreover, Oedipus the King is laden with rich textual irony that imparts the theme of fate vs. free will.

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In Oedipus the King, Sophocles uses literary ambiguity and irony to convey the central theme of fate and destiny as being more powerful than free will.

Devereaux points out the way Sophocles layers morally ambiguous themes, engendering sympathy for Oedipus. Oedipus is presented as a good, even if not universally loved, king. The priest calls him "peerless," as he has solved the riddle of the sphinx. Oedipus's intellectual prowes should be enough to offer the King common sense; and yet, he is a fallible hero. He had a chance to change his fate, but changing one's fate requires much more than intelligence. It requires a type of moral fortitude that is practically superhuman in its scope.

Thus, Sophocles seems to suggest that a person does have the opportunity to use free will to change one's fate, but that it takes a tremendous amount of personal strength. In fact, it might not be possible for Oedipus at all. Sophocles imbues the text with ambiguity just as….....

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