Fate In Sophocles Oedipus The King

In the Oedipus Cycle, Sophocles explores many themes surrounding fate, the will of the gods, and how characters attempt to control it. The Oedipus Cycle consists of three plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone. The first two plays center around Oedipus’ life and trials, while the third, Antigone, follows Oedipus’ titular daughter, Antigone. Throughout the three plays, Sophocles shows how the main characters Oedipus, his brother-in-law, Creon, and Antigone are affected by fate, and the ways they try to change it. Creon and Oedipus’ attempts to change their fate result in the death of most of their family, including Antigone. Sophocles believed that fate could not be changed as it was the will of the gods, and therefore, when the

When Creon refuses to bury Polyneices, Antigone immediately rebels and buries him. Creon’s attempts to display power and defy the gods backfire, as Antigone mourns her brother, and in her fury disobeys her king, sealing her fate. When Tiresias soon returns and argues with Creon, he tells him of the god’s sign that they were angry with Creon’s disobedience.

Teiresias:

You have kept from the gods below the child that is theirs:

The one in a grave before her death, the other, Dead denied the grave. This is your crime:

And the Furies and the dark gods of Hell

Are swift with terrible punishment for you. (234)

Teiresias attempts to pass on the message of the gods, but it is too late for Creon, as the punishment he deserves has been given. Teiresias’ message highlights the gods’ anger, iCreon soon calls for Antigone’s release, but she is dead, and so is Haimon-by his own hand. After witnessing his son’s death, Creon finally realizes his fate and punishment.

Creon:

Here you see

The father murdering, the murdered son-

And all my civic wisdom!

Haimon my son, so young, so young to die,

I was the fool, not you; and you died for

Because of this omnipotent force, Oedipus’ fate is set in stone, and all of his attempts to fool his fate only sealed it. By establishing the gods as the primary source of fate, Sophocles gives the characters an ultimatum: follow your destiny and obey the gods, or your life will be ruined. This ultimatum shows the true moral of plays, and in turn, it shows how Sophocles wanted to influence his audience.This extreme moral highlights Sophocles’ belief in fate, and how that influences the interpretation of the original myth and its adaptation for the plays. Sophocles shows how fate can often be the deadliest of weapons, and through Oedipus and Creon, we clearly see how it can be such. Sophocles shows the audience what he considered to be the will of the gods, and through that, he taught an important moral and how to please the gods the people of Greece