Oedipus Rex by Sophocles - Predestination versus Fate
Oedipus was predestined to kill his father and marry his mother. The gods had foreknowledge of this and it was prophesied before his birth. This was his fate, and there was no way of escaping it. As the story progresses, Oedipus tries to find out the truth about Laius' murder and his birth, despite the warnings of Tiresias and Jocasta, only to discover that the prophecy told to him by the oracle at Delphi was true. He only wanted to flee his fate, but it continually caught up with him. When he was the prince of Corinth and discovered his fate, he ran away, only to head towards the crimes that he would eventually commit. He would not accept his destiny and the fact that humans are relatively powerless against the gods. As Jocasta says, "It's all chance, / chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth / can see a day ahead, groping throug
Although his fate has already been prophesied, his actions determine whether it comes true. Hubris, or excessive pride, was among many flaws that Oedipus had. When arriving in Thebes to solve the Sphinx's riddle with intelligence and arrogance, he met and married Jocasta, which was another mistake because she was an older woman, who could have been his mother. It is better to not try and learn your fate and try to change it, but to live without knowing. By constantly trying to get around his prophecy, he came closer to fulfilling it. When he found out that his parents in Corinth were not actually his birth parents, he should not have left them because staying would decrease his chances of coming into contact with his actual parents. Oedipus' errors in judgment and action led to his destruction. Hamartia, a tragic flaw, contributed greatly to Oedipus' downfall. / Better to live at random, best we can," (Sophocles 1069-1072). However, in his attempt to escape his fate, Oedipus could have made better decisions. Humans are limited by a larger order, but have free will within it. After fleeing Corinth, killing anyone intentionally was a mistake, because this person could end up being his father. Oedipus would not have suffered the misery that he had, had he never gone to the oracle at Delphi and learned of his fate, and could have lived in blissful ignorance of this. Although he seemed to be a puppet of the gods, he ironically seems to bring the catastrophe of his life upon himself willingly because he never stopped to think about the consequences of his actions.
Common topics in this essay:
Jocasta It's,
Tiresias Jocasta,
,
marry mother,
father marry mother,
kill father marry,
escape fate,
father marry,
kill father,
oracle delphi,
|
Acceptance Essays
