Oedipus Rex Fate Vs Free Will

FOedipus Rex, is a well known play written by a famous playwright Sophocles, in 429 B.C. It is a tragedy in which Sophocles displays the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex is a child’s sexual attraction to their parent of the opposite sex and a wish to exclude the parent of the same sex. In the plot of the story, the son is in love with his mother and hates his father, both unknowingly. Oedipus struggling learns about his past which has an effect on not only him but the people around him. The play may be seen as incestuous but Sophocles insists that their is a deeper theme, Fate vs Free Will. The debate on whether one controls their own life, or if our decisions are connected to our destiny. As a child Oedipus was sent off the be killed by his real parents, however he survived because it was his fate that allowed him to live. “Shephard: O master, I pitied it, and thought that I could

“Jocasta: O Oedipus, God help you! God keep you from the knowledge of who you are” (Line 1222). When it comes to this example, it was Oedipus’ free will to choose to learn about his past, whereas is could have been avoided had he listened to his mother. He learns in the end that his choices to learn are the causes of his and others misery. However this does not mean if Oedipus had not pursued his past, he would not have suffered. His fate had been sealed, there was no other way it would have ended, it might have just taken longer, or not as long. He can not control the wind, he can only adjust the sail. If the shepherd had not informed Oedipus of his reality, there were many others who could have. Perhaps the plague or some other reason may have caused him to reveal the unknown of his past. Oedipus could have taken many different ways but no matter what he would have ended up in misery because that was his