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Oedipus The King Fate Vs Free Will Research Paper

771 Words4 Pages

Drake DeWildt
World Literature
Ms. Duncan
8 January, 2023 Oedipus The King by Nicholas Rudall In life many events are bound to happen, but along with that you are able to make many choices of your own. In Oedipus The King the main character Oedipus is forced to make decisions while Teiresius unveils his fate. The king accuses others for the cause of the previous kings death with the only intent to have the people favor him for avenging his death, but his fate reveals the truth. The play Oedipus The King by Nicholas Rudall explores fate versus free will in order to demonstrate the fact that some events in life cannot be controlled while others can be. This is shown through Oedipus living out his prophecy, or fate, by killing his father, …show more content…

Life sets this and it can never be changed. Oedipus was born with a prophecy, he would kill his father and marry his mother. His father was King Laius and his mother was Jocasta. This was to be his fate for life. He cannot change this in any way. Before Teiresius leaves, he ends off by saying, “To his children he will be both brother and father. To her who gave him birth both son and husband. And to his father he will be both killer and the man who shared his bed” (Rudall 5 Part 1). This quote shows that Oedipus was destined to murder his father and marry his mother. He cannot escape this …show more content…

We can make many choice such as what to eat or what outfit to wear. You also have a choice on who to accuse when there is a problem, but you should do this with proper evidence. Oedipus decides to accuse others of murdering their previous king, King Laius. He does this with no evidence and brings much trouble upon himself. While struggling to understand why Teiresius was accusing him, Oedipus then chooses to accuse Creon, “He then suspects that Creon is behind the plot: Creon is jealous of Oedipus’s power and wants to overthrow him, Oedipus says” (Rudall 4 Part 1). This shows that Oedipus is choosing to accuse another person without any evidence that they murdered the former king. In conclusion, Oedipus choosing to accuse others leads to bad consequences for the new

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Background Information: In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, Oedipus was told that he would kill his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta. However, Oedipus doesn’t believe that he killed Laius but was blind to the truth for him accept it which led to his demise. 3.Thesis Statement:

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In Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, Oedipus continually attempts to change his fate. His actions, however, directly result in the outcome he has tried to escape. In accordance with a prophecy, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother. Upon discovering what he has done, in a dramatic act with many witnesses present, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes in despair. Despite all of his attempts at evasion, Oedipus finds that his fate is inevitable, and that he can never go against the gods’ intentions.

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Fate is the predetermination of the events in one’s life by the gods in the way of Greek mythology. Mortals are subject to their fate and are left with no choice but to let it play out in their lives. The idea of challenging fate and the gods will is a recurring theme in greek mythology, such as in The Theban Plays, by Sophocles. Sophocles uses the main characters in The Theban Plays as key examples to the audience of people whose overzealous hubris and overwhelming curiosity inevitably lead them down the path of their misfortunate fate. Oedipus’s life is bombarded with challenging decisions that lead to the exposure of his few flaws that every human possesses.

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