Oedipus the King: Oedipus' Struggle with Fate and Free Will

In our world today, fate and free will remains the biggest mystery of all; is everything we do controlled or do we have the freedom of choice? In the story "Oedipus the King" by Sophocles, the author uses the idea of fate and free will to explain the struggle of Oedipus's life. Fate and free will is explained as; fate is controlled by an outside supernatural force, and there is no way of controlling it. Free will is when each of us is responsible and controls all aspects of our own life. The author of "Oedipus the King" uses ironic devices to convey a tragic attitude toward the struggle of fate and free will.

The city of Thebes has been cursed by a plague caused by an unclean being that murdered Laius. While in despair, Oedipus cursed the murderer into exile. "I curse that murderer; if he is alone I curse him"(Sophocles, line 263). The murderer of King Laius is Oedipus, so Oedipus is cursing himself into exile. The irony of that statement is that Oedipus is cursing himself and does not know it. Then Oedipus continues the speech and he says that, "I will fight for him like I would fight for my father. My search will never end until I take in chains the murderer of Laius"(Lines 282-285). Laius is Oedipus's father, so he will fight for Laius like he would fight for his father. Irony is also present in the second sentence of the quote because his search will not end until he finds the murderer so he must find himself and he doesn't know it is he. Teiresias, an old and blind prophet, is summoned to find the person who is unclean. When he comes, he asks to be sent away because he fears the truth. Oedipus demands that Teiresias tell him the truth. Teiresias tells Oedipus that he is the unclean person that is causing the city so much ...

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... by the stubbornness of Oedipus. This shows how fate and free will can take on mans happy life and turn it into sorrow.

All of this pain and suffering of Oedipus could have been avoided if he had just taken the advice from; Teiresias, Jocasta, the messenger, the Shepard, or even Creon. It was ironic because not once did Oedipus listen to the warnings that these people gave to him. And every time he didn't listen he found out information that caused him in the end to stab out his eyes. So was this story based on fate or free will? I believe that it was a mixture of both. Obviously the oracle was all fate and Oedipus and his parents couldn't change it needlessly of their efforts. I do believe that Oedipus was the cause of the tragic ending. He would not give up until he found the whole truth even though it scared him forever, and that is an example of free will.