Free Will In Oedipus The King

Unlike some other characters, Oedipus’s fate appears to be predetermined. For example, characters like Creon, who are not involved in the prophecy, can do as they please and have free will. In contrast, characters that are involved in the prophecy, specifically Jocasta, Oedipus, and Laius, do not have free will and no matter what they do, their fate is still the same. Although at the start of the tragedy Oedipus appears to have free will, near the middle this soon changes and what he does to try and change his fate does not do anything. Furthermore, much to his dismay, Oedipus, trying to bring Laius’s slayer to justice, ends up sentencing himself. For example, the prophecy said that the king’s son would marry his mother and kill his father;

Unbeknownst to Oedipus, he kills a man when he leaves Corinth, this man is Laius. Subsequently, Oedipus, upon arriving to Thebes, marries Jocasta and ends up becoming king of Thebes; thus, fulfilling the prophecy. Only later does Oedipus find out that he, trying so hard to prevent it, sealed his fate. Moreover, once Oedipus realizes that the prophecy has come true, he gouges out his eyes and begs for exile. This scene was particularly ironic due to the fact that Oedipus so aggressively argued that he was not Laius’s killer. This proves that Oedipus’s fate was predetermined; against all odds, baby Oedipus survives abandonment and ends up coming back to

First of all a lot of people are to blame for the tragedy of Oedipus. Although, some are more at fault than others. One obvious thing to blame is the prophecy as it is; in other words, prophecy is the only reason that the tragedy ended up being a tragedy. However, without the actions of certain characters, the prophecy could have been avoided. To name a few, the Old Man whose responsibility was to get rid of baby Oedipus, and Laius and Jocasta who should have killed baby Oedipus instead of abandoning him. Since the prophecy would sill be relevant even if Oedipus was not in the kingdom, Laius and Jocasta should have just killed Oedipus to secure and guarantee their kingdom’s safety. Likewise, the Old Man is equally at fault; if he had properly made sure that baby Oedipus was gone then the tragedy would have been prevented. On a side-note, most of the damage that Oedipus himself caused could have been prevented if he listened to Tiresias. A major downfall that Oedipus had was his hubris, for if he had accepted his fate from the very beginning then he could have spared Jocasta and his kingdom. Although all these characters have equal blame in the prophecy coming true, if Oedipus was not lied to about his real parents then the prophecy was likely to be avoided. Once the Old Man tells Oedipus that he is the son of Laius and Jocasta, Oedipus gouges out his eyes and finds out that Jocasta has killed herself. This further proves that if Oedipus was either killed or actually told