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Fate and free will in Greek mythology
How the idea of fate impact the greeks’ understanding of free will? the odyssey
Greek mythology fate prophecy and free will
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After Oedipus realizes that he fulfilled his fate of killing his father and marrying his mother, Oedipus declares,”I have been saved for something great and terrible, something strange. Well let destiny come and take me on its way”(323). Then Oedipus gouges out his own eyes so that he cannot look upon his parents in the underworld, his children, or the city he once ruled. He then asks Creon to return him to the place he should have died as a young child, the mountain. The statement reveals that Oedipus fulfilled his fate and that Oedipus truly believes destiny set him on the path of destruction.
Oedipus Rex is the story of the man who desperately tried to avoid his fate, and in that way, he fulfilled it. He was ignorant about signs and messages he was given, which ultimately led to his demise. He was blind to all warnings and prophecies he was given. Oedipus’s demise was fate, as hard as he tried to avoid it, he fell into it anyway.
In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and agency are very strong throughout the play. Both sides of the argument can be greatly supported. The attributes of a person have either a positive or negative affect on the choices that they make. For Oedipus, his main attribute was the desire for knowledge and understanding about his own life. Because of this strong will and desire, this was Oedipus’ driving force in the play to lead him to the truth of his beginnings.
Oedipus worked hard to avoid his fate, the more he tried to intervene with fate the further he drove him and many others to their death. Oedipus spun through his fate like a whirlwind. This play’s setting was during the time of ancient Greek. The ancient Greeks believed their gods could see the future, and prophets or seers could foresee the things to come. Prophets and seers played a huge role in the fate of Oedipus.
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.
“There is no armour against fate.” JAMES SHIRLEY, The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses. This quote is very powerful because it tells us that you can’t protect yourself from fate no matter what it’s bound to happen and yet you have no control. In Oedipus his whole destiny and life is based on fate he tries to run away from it but it still manages to catch him in the three cross roads. Oedipus has no freewill because even when he’s trying to make choices he still advancing his fate.
Truly, Oedipus sets out to change his destiny. His self determination proves he has pride in himself and confidence that he can somehow change the future. When Oedipus killed his father he allowed his pride and arrogance to control him. He was thinking with his pride and did not use self control. This hubris that is instilled in Oedipus is a serious flaw of his.
Oedipus’s selfishness and temper eventually lead to his downfall. Oedipus selfishness made everyone else mad at him for him not believing them. He kept digging and digging himself into a deeper hole. This eventually made his punishment at the end worse for him. He also could not handle the truth so this made him disrespect the gods.
Introduction The story of Oedipus the king is gloomy, yet captivating. Going from a child bond around the feet and abandon by the mountainside, to marrying his mother, his story is intriguing. In search of the truth about the prophecy and putting an end to a plague Oedipus, search for king Laius’s killer, did somethings inadvertently, making him a tragic hero. His search for truth in the death of Laius the king, as well as his birth led to the ultimate destruction and downfall of his life.
Fate or free will? Paulo Coelho once said: “I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfill our destiny, but our fate is sealed.” According to oxford dictionary, fate is the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a super natural power.
The ideology of Oedipus’s entire life being predetermined by a higher power. Let’s not forgot how Sophocles also presents the audience with several forms of characterization to show a good amount of sense of individual thirst for knowledge during the story. Oedipus focus of his actions are based on his past decisions which then plays an effect on his entire future. Sophocles, the author, allows the audience to from an open opinion whether fate is truly playing the bigger role in the Oedipus myth.
The destiny that Oedipus was attempting to avoid, was the destiny that he was also fulfilling. Fate is defined as a destined outcome; nothing can alter that no matter what is tried. Anyway, it was too late for Oedipus to do anything about it, for the many factors that contributed to his death were irreversible and dormant until the very ironically tragic end. Oedipus tried to master fate and it ultimately mastered him.
His destiny has been foretold by an oracle which claims that his son will one day murder him. The prophecy stated, His oracle was simplified to, “One which said he’d kill his parents.” (26) At that state of risk he leaves his son, but did the oracle predict right? It seems so, since Oedipus murders a group which was told to be Laius’ group. “I lifted my own staff and hit him back.
Since the earliest of times, there has always been debate over the concepts of fate and free will. The most frequent dispute is whether or not man truly has free will, or if fate is the ultimate determinant of how one's life will turn out. One play that depicts this concept is Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. In this tragedy, Oedipus receives a prophecy that he would bed his mother and murder his father. After learning of this prophecy, Oedipus attempts to undo fate and utilize his free will to escape what would be his destiny.
The theme of Fate vs. Free Will is dominant in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; however the theme of fate is more significant than free will. In the play both Romeo and Juliet meeting was contributed by fate as Shakespeare mentioned in the prologue that Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers that were meant to meet, fall in love and their death would be the reason for the feud to end between the two families. Fate was the reason Capulet’s servant asked Romeo and Benvolio to help him read the invitation for him that contained all the names of the people that were invited to the ball Capulet hosted. “…If you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine.