In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and agency are very strong throughout the play. Both sides of the argument can be greatly supported. The attributes of a person have either a positive or negative affect on the choices that they make. For Oedipus, his main attribute was the desire for knowledge and understanding about his own life. Because of this strong will and desire, this was Oedipus’ driving force in the play to lead him to the truth of his beginnings. His agency is based on his drive for knowledge.
Throughout the play, Oedipus pushes many people for information regarding his beginnings. Each one of those characters in some way or form denied giving him a clear answer. As he draws close to an answer, another character tries to stop his journey. Oedipus continues to keep moving forward even though others tried to get him to stop. His desire for knowledge kept pushing him to continue on with his
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He was born with his own stubbornness. No matter what his decisions were, the gods gift to him will lead to the path they gave him. He can't escape the fate the gods have given him. He kept pushing farther and father, but it just led to his downfall. Nothing he could have done would have stopped that. They can't be avoided because the gods made him with his particular personality, and it controls his life. Ultimately they control Oedipus’ life.
Free will and fate can be related to every aspect of Oedipus the King. The gods who control fate manipulate the thinking and concepts in human's free will. Ultimately fate is what overcomes all. It may not seem like it, but free will was given to mankind by the gods or God. So in turn the gods decide the fate of everybody when they created man. It was already decided and can not be changed. One can still argue the position that free will is more dominant, but if you relate to creation and how the gods made man, fate