Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus
“What people commonly call fate is mostly their own stupidity.” These words marked by one of the great philosophers, Arthur Schopenhauer, ring true to even before his time. The infamous Sophoclean tragedies Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus of Greek poetry by far exemplify the concept of fate in its entirety as one of the most powerful roles in life. As in most other cases, the order of destiny and fate come so close to one another, it is hard to imagine one without the other. When characters stubble upon their fate, it is without utmost certainty that they will in one way or another tries to change their course of action and test the limits of in which destiny has set. Destiny itself is defined as an inalterable life path where all other paths lead regardless of choice; fate is defined as an event or course of events that will inevitably happen in the future. As both plays evolve, the importance of not only fate and destiny play a major significance in the outcomes of the main character, Oedipus, the King of Thebes, nevertheless as do blindness, for it is yet added to his list of enemies. Through his determination of testing fate, his heroic mental strength, his omnipotent rule over Thebes, and even to his unforeseen vengef . . .
At the outset, this story revolves around two different attempts to change the course of fate. In fact, he punished himself by taking away his physical sight, “ ‘You shall not see me nor my crime, / not see my present shame. To begin, in Oedipus Rex, there is no doubt that Oedipus is born with a terrible prophecy to kill his own father and marry his mother. Attempts to challenge fate and outsmart one’s destiny only works out to their disadvantage for it results in exactly what was planned. In an attempt to change fate, both Jocasta and Oedipus changed the structure of their families, moving as far away as possible from the relatives that threaten to ruin them, as far away as death. / Go dark for all time blind/ to what you never should have seen, and blind/ to the love this heart has cried to see. In continuation, the second play, Oedipus at Colonus, is an outcome of the first, Oedipus Rex. ” From the time he was exiled from Thebes, to the time he and his daughter Antigone stumbled upon the grove of the holy ground of Eumenides, goddess of Fate, age and time has converted Oedipus from being an arrogant, stubborn, and ignorant man to man devoted to doing the right thing and being honest to not only himself and his family, but to what he has no control over as well. The second strive to alter one’s destiny is made by Oedipus for when he himself is aware of his destiny that the oracle has predicted for him. Moreover, Oedipus’s journey to cope with his blindness displays an honorable virtue of which shows utmost importance and significance. (Sophocles 44) ” Jocasta orders to have her son killed only to find him restored to life and married to her. The first attempt endeavor would be that of Jocasta and Laius, Oedipus’s mother and true father, having their baby son sent to be killed after hearing an oracle predict their future, “Once long ago there came to Laius from … an oracle, / Which said that fate would make him meet his end/ Through a son, a son of his (Laius) and mine (Jocasta). Even with his physical sight, he had no true insight about life, which in return led to his ignorance and hasty actions. When both Jocasta and Oedipus tried to outsmart their fate and created their own destiny, they failed to consider what repercussions that resulted from their impulsive decisions.
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