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How Does Oedipus Control His Fate

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Are we able to chose our own paths? Or are we just walking through our lives with everything planned out for us? In Oedipus Rex



, Sophocles writes a very complex

tragedy that defends two very arguable philosophical views; free will versus fate. Throughout the play Sophocles has us questioning if Oedipus is the cause of his fate or if he was doomed as soon as he was born. Although Sophocles makes a good argument for both sides, I believe that the play mostly supports the idea that we have no control over our fate.

During the course of the play, the idea that Oedipus has no control over his fate is supported numerous times. First, the philosophical view that we don’t control our fate is supported by the play when the plague hits Thebes in the beginning of the play. The fact that Oedipus’s prophecy has been fulfilled is unknown to him at this time; he is in the clear. But then the plague hits, and the only way to stop it is too avenge King Laius's death. Fate is pushing him to find out that he was the one who killed King Laius. “Well, …show more content…

This is proof that Oedipus has no free will. Secondly, the idea that we don't control our fate is supported by everyone in Thebe’s belief in the oracle’s powers. As soon as the oracle tells Oedipus about his prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, he runs away in fear, completely believing what the oracle says. The same thing occurs when everyone finds out that the plague will end Lastly, the philosophical view that we don’t control our fate is proven by the fact that even after Oedipus tried to avoid his prophecy, it was still fulfilled. “Woe! woe! woe! woe! all

cometh clear at last!”

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