Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles

Fate cannot be controlled. No matter what someone tries, no matter what someone does, no matter what someone believes they have accomplished, they have not controlled fate. In the play Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, fate was opposed with the notion of self-determined destiny. Duplicity, Calamity, and hyper-reality: these all were results of Oedipus knowing too much, yet at the same time, too little of his true lot in life. Though fate had granted him with the knowledge of his fate, he was missing the tiny, yet crucial piece of information of when the prophecy had been fulfilled. Thus the reality of what was, and reality as he perceived it left Oedipus selecting between two sets of irreconcilable facts, both of which he believed to be true. Ultimately, his inability to reconcile between two “truths” led to his mental and physical destruction.

When Creon returned from visiting the prophet Tiresias, he warned Oedipus of his impending prophecy. With the knowledge of this prophecy, Oedipus learned that he was destined to kill his father, and marry his mother only to bear cursed progeny. Upon hearing this, he did all he could to be sure that this prophecy could not be rendered true. He even tried to convince himself that this could not be true by attempting to disprove the prophecy, ”You said that he reported it was brigands Who killed the King. If he speaks of ‘men’, It was not I; a single man…” (Page76, 842-847). Here, he hears from his wife Iocasta that it was not a “single man” who committed the murder of his (real) father, but rather a group of “men”. He is looking for a loophole by throwing out minor alterations between what he knew to happen, and the prophecy, and hoping one sticks. Believing that his “father” was still alive a...

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...d in my marriage, and in him {Laius} I slew…”(Page:89, 1182-1185). When the misconception of his reality is shattered, Oedipus sees that he cannot escape or change his past. Oedipus finally understands the catch of the prophecy; it had already occurred. This idea of fate being unavoidable leads Oedipus to his physical destruction, as he proceeds to gouge out his eye.

The destiny of patricide and incestuous relations that Oedipus was attempting to avoid was the destiny that he was inadvertently fulfilling. Fate is defined as “a destined outcome”, and nothing can alter something that is destined to occur. It was too late for Oedipus to do anything about it, as the countless factors that contributed to his both mental and physical demise were irreversible and dormant until the very ironic and tragic end. Oedipus tried to conquer fate and it ultimately conquered him.