Free Oedipus The King Essays: Does Fate Really Exist?

The concept of whether such a thing as fate or destiny really exist is an extremely controversial topic. With all the religions and beliefs of the world such as, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, along with a multitude of others have been, and still are debated amongst people. Terrorism and political issues are not the only current real world problems. Is the widely known saying that children have been brainwashed into listening to,“Live life the way you want to live it.” now proven wrong? Is everyone born to this earth with a purpose and a predetermined fate, which cannot be changed? This wavering idea of all humans already having their life planned out for them fears some, and comforts other. However, Sophocles, author of Oedipus the King,

Paying no regards to Laius’s remark of not having a child, Jocasta becomes pregnant after giving Laius a little too much to drink. After a series of unfortunate mishappening, their child, Oedipus, is welcomed to a different family. However, Oedipus grows up to find out that the couple who he had thought were his parents, were not his real parents. A prophecy warns him that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Fearful of what he has heard, he unknowingly heads towards Thebes, the kingdom in which Jocasta and Laius reside. Soon enough, Oedipus is caught at a crossroad with Laius and after a quarrel, ends up murdering him and all the witness but one. Although this happens prior to the play, dramatic irony already is evident by the fact that the murdering occurs at crossroads, which are symbolically know for where things seem to go wrong. They are known for places where you can either choose to take the right path, or the wrong path. In this case the wrong path is taken by Oedipus, resulting in him murdering his own father. Fast forwarding through time, Oedipus becomes the new king of Thebes after Laius’s death, and a terrible plague happens to strike the kingdom. In desperate need of help, Apollo reaches out and says the only way to save the kingdom is to banish the murderer of Laius. Frantic in despair, and

Sopheculus shows the reader that fate is simply unavoidable. When Laius and Jocasta left baby Oedipus to the shepherd's, assuming they would take care of the baby and do what they had to do, they put their fate at risk. However, the shepherd's simply forgot about the baby and he was rescued by another family. Jocasta and Laius put their fate in the hands of others, and although they thought that their fate could be changed, it clearly was not. Unaware of the fact that Oedipus had not exactly vanished off the face of the earth, Laius is brutally murdered at the crossroads, as mentioned earlier. Despite trying to avoid their fate proclaimed by the Oracle, Jocasta and Laius are led back to the same trap. Oedipus’s journey to discover that he infact is the son of Laius who murdered him is an arduous yet prosperous one. While investigating the case of Laius’s murder, Oedipus’s senses come into play. “Such ties swear me to his side as if he were my father.” (15) The audience already knows this to be true, making this ironic. Evidently Laius is Oedipus’s father and the fact that he gets the vibes that Laius is his father, reveals his ignorance. Even with all the efforts of Creon, Jocasta's brother, and Tiresias trying to bestow the idea of Oedipus being the son of Laius who murdered him, Oedipus refuses to believe them. He vows to find the murderer of Laius and punish him, but at