Oedipus Rex:The fate
"Do not think ahead, and be cheerful by knowing that no man lives forever"Is fate inevitable? This question arises in the turmoil of the uncertainty about the future and the frailty and ephemeral life of men. To be precise, fate according to its denotative meaning, is simply the "principle of what is ordained for human beings". Moreover in the western culture, fate also has been associated often with inevitable circumstances that lead to a tragic end. In this manner in Sophocles' Oedipus King this aphorism, about life and fate, is amalgamated with the tragic fate and fall of Oedipus, king of Thebes. The question that surges through all the play, from its beginning until to its tragic outcome, is if Oedipus' fate was inevitable? Oedipus, King of Thebes, was cursed through all his life by his fate. For instance Oedipus' life was condemned since its beginning by a prophecy that his father, King Laios, received through the Oracle; he was going to be murdered by his own son: "[your] doom would be death at the hands of [your] own son" (36). Later Oedipus himself received the same prophecy by a prophet of Apollo that stated that he was going to kill his own father and marry his
Dudley Fitts, and Robert Fitzgerald. "Now it is my misery; then, it would be yours. Consequently everything is controlled by fate and each and every action is already planned out. mx/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=0000XX59058-3-75314&searchkey=&artno=0000068976&type=ART>. Nevertheless Oedipus reacts aggressively, and kills his father to fulfill the prophecy that has foreseen his fate. Indeed Oedipus realizes this terrible revelation when he discovers the truth; "Ah God! It was true! All the prophecies!" (62)Oedipus did not have any possibility to change his past to change the course of the events set by the prophecies. However, if he had acted differently, the fate will create another different course of events that will eventually trap him to follow the tragic prophecy. In the play it is evident that even Oedipus had been warned through prophecies and visions he was blind to see these warnings. More precisely, no matter whatever the course of events is, it will have the same outcome that has been foreseen even before its existence. On the whole Oedipus King reveals the aphorism that everybody is controlled by fate. Following this line of thoughts Oedipus' life experiences were determined by a master plan of fate. " (17) "Whether I speak or not, it is bound to come" (18).
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Acceptance Essays
