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Fate versus freedom in oedipus
Oedipus as a concept of fate
Examples of fate and free will in oedipus rex
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Fate versus freedom in oedipus
Oedipus as a concept of fate
Examples of fate and free will in oedipus rex
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Fate versus freedom in oedipus
Fate plays an important role in both Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, and Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel, but each of the main characters’ fates leads them in very different directions. The major difference between the stories Oedipus Rex and Beowulf is that Oedipus runs away and tries to avoid his prophecy, but Beowulf embraces his fate. Oedipus’s fate was that he would kill his father and marry his mother shown by the quote, “Loxias once told me that I must sleep with my own mother and shed paternal blood with my own hands,” (1023 Oedipus). He avoided his prophecy by fleeing from Corinth and living in Thebes, rather than embracing it like Beowulf did.
Oedipus the King is a story which consists of people run away from what their destiny is, and the truth according to the story is there is no escape and what is supposed to occur will happen. Their is
Aristotle believed that the high minded man sought truth, was open in his internal affairs and cherished the virtue of honour. Although Oedipus was doomed by destiny and fate, he did not let this define his high characteristic and his right to exuberate these maxims. Fate says that no matter what you do, your future is "written". Thus if you should learn of your fate and try to avoid it, that which you try to avoid will come to pass no matter what.
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.
The Life of Oedipus: Fate or Freewill? no matter what movie, play, or book you are following the story of, it is always apparent that there is a hero with fate or destiny; some controlled by a predetermined prophecy said by a higher spiritual power like gods. The best example to make would be to that of religion during the middle ages where people used the principle of Ockham's Razor to blame religion and Gods for random events, such as plagues, sudden deaths, famines or natural disasters. A story like Oedipus Rex makes you ponder whether or not fate can eventually be moralized into free will and how much control the Gods really have on a a individual. It was common to assume that once a God prophesied a person’s life, there would be absolutely no self-control and life would go exactly according to the prophecy.
Even tragic heroes have to deal with fate. In Oedipus the King, the main character, Oedipus, runs away from his destiny and becomes a tragic hero. The conflict occurs when Oedipus learns from the Delphic oracle that his destiny is to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus does not want this to happen, so he leaves Corinth to avoid his destiny.
In Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles and translated by Robert Fagles, there is a prophecy that Oedipus will marry his own mother and kill his father. Queen Jocasta and King Laius try to avoid this prophecy by abandoning Oedipus. Oedipus lives and hears the same prophecy as a young adult and leaves his adopted parents, who he thinks are his biological parents. In the end, Oedipus marries his mom and killed his dad, proving the prophecy to become true. In Oedipus the King, free will exists but the outcome of the free will, will always be prophecy.
If Oedipus’s behavior was different from a different choice then he wouldn’t have blinded and exiled himself. On (page 11) Teirsias states, “Let me go home. Bear your own fate, and I'll bear mine. It is so: trust what I say.”
Free will is something that we, as people living in a judeo-christian and capitalistic society, seemingly depend on for purpose, but throughout much of history, the concept was viewed through a quite different lense. In The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles, despite all of the efforts of Oedipus to avoid his fate, the king of Thebes is not able to avoid the inevitable, due to circumstances out of his control. Considered in a more simplistic light during Sophocles’ time, with the role of the gods playing an much more significant role in people 's thought processes, many preeminent philosophers, such as Sam Harris, are now taking this point of view, but then adding science and excluding religion. While this topic is still quite controversial even today, by delving into both the science behind free will and also the text of The Oedipus Cycle, the conclusion that the concept of free will is a false narrative is not as implausible. First and foremost, the science behind free will is essential in the understanding of people’s decision making.
Truly, Oedipus sets out to change his destiny. His self determination proves he has pride in himself and confidence that he can somehow change the future. When Oedipus killed his father he allowed his pride and arrogance to control him. He was thinking with his pride and did not use self control. This hubris that is instilled in Oedipus is a serious flaw of his.
He runs away from his non-biological parents, with the belief that if he runs away he can avoid the prophecy. Consequently, he fulfills the prophecy by mistake. His fate was set before him many years ago and he does not have the power to change it. Moreover, Oedipus believes that he can save the town as he has done twenty years ago. He say to his uncle Creon, “Then once more I must bring what is dark to light” (Sophocles I, i, l 134).
Individual actions result in the foreordained ending of Oedipus. Decision can truly change a lot of things. The determinists believe that things that happened are all destined, and not within the control of human. They believe that no matter what they do, they don’t have the power or ability to change the things or events that are going to happen since it was all fated.
And Oedipus replied ”you have got your wish if you don’t tell the truth” . He is not pushing them to speak, he forces them using the power of his position . In addition to the reason behind Oedipus’s escape is knowing his fate and that he is going to kill his father and marry his mother. So he ran from it, and he did not know that he is running towards it. His curiosity and insistence to revel the truth made him follow his passion and never listen to anybody, hence he made bad choices.
The destiny that Oedipus was attempting to avoid, was the destiny that he was also fulfilling. Fate is defined as a destined outcome; nothing can alter that no matter what is tried. Anyway, it was too late for Oedipus to do anything about it, for the many factors that contributed to his death were irreversible and dormant until the very ironically tragic end. Oedipus tried to master fate and it ultimately mastered him.
Since the earliest of times, there has always been debate over the concepts of fate and free will. The most frequent dispute is whether or not man truly has free will, or if fate is the ultimate determinant of how one's life will turn out. One play that depicts this concept is Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. In this tragedy, Oedipus receives a prophecy that he would bed his mother and murder his father. After learning of this prophecy, Oedipus attempts to undo fate and utilize his free will to escape what would be his destiny.