The Tragic Fate of Oedipus the King
In the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus the main character meets with a
tragic fate. In the beginning he is a mighty king, ruler of the city of
Thebes. Then the people of Thebes come to him with a problem. The city is
tragically on the surge of death. Oedipus, being the mighty king he is, is
determined to solve the problem. Oedipus saved the city once before and
became a hero. Now faced with this problem he would like to be a hero
again, but things don't always take a turn out good.
When the priest and the people of Thebes come to Oedipus, the
priest tells Oedipus, "Your own eyes must tell you: Thebes is in her
extremity and cannot lift her head from the surge of death." (802). They
then tell Oedipus that they know he is a great king and they turn to him to
find a remedy. Oedipus saved the city once before from the Sphinx by
solving the riddle and destroying her. Now faced with this new problem he
has no choice but to solve the problem and save the city once again.
Oedipus then sends his brother Creon to get whatever information he
can. Creon leaves the city and then comes back with some information. He
tells Oedipus that the gods command them to expel from the land of Thebes
an old defilement that it seems they shelter. The gods tell them to take
revenge upon whoever killed there past king. Oedipus, now the mighty king,
is determined to find out what happened. He says, "Then once more I must
bring what is dark to light. You shall see how I stand by you, as I should,
to avenge the city and the city's god." (804).
The first thing Oedipus does is to call on Teiresias who is the
holy prophet in whom, alone of all men, truth was born. When Teiresias
arrives he tells Oedipus, " Let me go home. Bear your own fate, and I'll
bear mine. It is better so: trust what I say." (808). Oedipus can not
accept this and demands to know what Teiresias knows. He calls Teiresias a
as a possible heir to his fathers thrown. Then finally Odysseus and his need to avenge the
At the sight of this event, Oedipus feels immediate and unbearable guilt and blinds himself to the evils he has caused. At this point Oedipus enters the return phase of the initiation and realizes that he must live up to his own decree and banish himself from the city in order to save his people. The third stage, the sacrifice, is symbolized by Oedipus removing himself from the city.
Even though "fate" seems to determine Oedipus' life, he does, in fact, have a free will.
The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, are the result of the hero’s self determination and restless attempt to escape a terrifying destiny predicted for him by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. My intention is to prove that although the Fates play a crucial part in the story, it is Oedipus'choices and wrong doing that ultimately lead to his downfall.
The play's plot, in a nutshell, develops like this. After solving the riddle of the Sphynx, who had kept Thebes under a curse of some kind, Oedipus is invited to become king of the city. He marries Jocasta, the widow of the previous king, and they have two children. When the play begins, Thebes is again under some sort of curse, and Oedipus tries to find out its cause so that he can rescue the city. He is told that the cause of the curse is that the murderer of the previous king is still in the city and has gone unpunished. In the process of searching for the murderer, Oedipus discovers that it is he, himself, who is responsible and that he is actually the son of Jocasta and her previous husband. Horrified by his sins of incest and murder, Oedipus claws out his eyes. Jocasta commits suicide because she is so disgraced.
has killed his father, the former king, and married his mother. When his presence in Thebes causes a plague to strike the city, he sincerely seeks out the cure for his city's plight.
By going against the larger celestial order, his tragic. fate is determined by the. Eventually, it is Oedipus who chooses his path. the one of ignorance rather than clarity, and in doing so, he must. take responsibility for his actions.
Born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta in the city of Thebes, Oedipus is surrounded with controversy after a prophecy shows that Oedipus will be destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Fearing the potential consequences of the prophecy, Oedipus’ parents made the decision to abandon their baby at the top of a mountain to die using one of their servants. The servant’s consciousness, however, causes him to instead deliver the baby to a shepherd, who in turn sends him to King Polybius and Queen Merope of the kingdom Corinth. After raising the child as their own, Oedipus becomes suspicious that these weren’t his biological parents and leaves Corinth upon hearing the prophecy by the oracle Delphi. As he unknowingly travels to his birth city, Thebes, Oedipus murdered a man along with his servants after a dispute between them. Before entering Thebes, Oedipus is confronted by the guardian of the city’s Gates, the Sphinx who presents him with a riddle. If he solves the riddle, he will be able to pass. If he doesn’t, he’ll die. Oedipus’s superior intelligence and cleverness allows him to easily solve the riddle, however unbeknownst to him will be a foreshadowing of his tragic downfall. The citizens of Thebes praise Oedipus and Queen Jocasta offers to marry him since her husband was mysteriously murdered. Upon marry Jocasta and becoming the King of Thebes, a powerful plague decimates the citizens of
After Oedipus becomes king of Thebes, the people of Thebes become plagued. Oedipus’ feels responsible for saving the people of Thebes. Oedipus’ pride to save the city later turns to pity after he divulges the sin he has committed. His pride forces him to find the traitor who murdered Laius. He eventually finds out that he is the sinner and gouges his eyes out to prove that he is not worthy of sight.
The Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, was written to show the common people of Greece how powerful the gods are and that your fate is pre-determined and nothing you do can change that. He does this by showing how people in this story try to escape their fate and how it is no use because in the end, what the oracles predict comes true. In the story there are many occasions in which people try to escape their fate.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
tells the priest and the suffering people of Thebes. If Oedipus did not care for
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When he confirms through two messengers and an oracle that he is destined to marry his mother and kill his father, he completely panics. He knows that is something he definitely wants to avoid, so he decided he would attempt to change his fate. But at that time, he did not realize that your fate is your fate, and it will not change. When Oedipus realizes what his future holds, he decides to avoid it at all costs. As a result, he picked up and ran away.