Oedipus Fate example essay topic

Sophocles utilizes the element of fate in Oedipus Rex. Fate seems to determine Oedipus' life, but he does have a free will. His choices brought the prophecy to life. Only his decisions determined the outcomes of his situations. Of course those decisions were inside of the limits set by fate. Through Sophocles' use of foreshadowing in the play Oedipus Rex, certain truths are revealed to the reader, such as the fact that a lack of respect for fate can eventually bring on a person's downfall, by driving them to delusion.

Oedipus is looked up to by all of his kingdom at the opening of the play, only to be thwarted by his own lack of intelligence, and more by his lack of faith. Oedipus, once the sanguine, yet slightly overbearing ruler of the people, is reduced to less than a sliver of a human being. His earnest patriotism for his adoptive land and people are well received by all in his kingdom. After all, his the most "glorious Oedipus" (p. 13, ln.

8). Oedipus perceives himself to be a flawless champion for those surrounding him. These blind expectations that the most exalted Oedipus has for himself are the very things that lead him to put little credence in others and nearly all his faith in himself. And once he decides he is stronger than prophecy, his mad, unseeing eyes are unable to pickup the warning signs lining his road to oblivion. When confronted by the prophet Teiresius, Oedipus feels most perplexed and even exposed. When Oedipus heard a prophesy that he is going to kill his father and sleep with his mother he ran away, even when he new there were suspicions of him being the real son of his parents.

This is one point of the play in which Oedipus is unbelievably close to finally buying into the fact that some power higher than himself could be at work, and yet his arrogance and pride hinder him from accepting the legitimacy of fate. Paralleling closely this idea of pridefulness can be found in Proverbs 16: 18 of the Bible, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall". Oedipus finds the idea that Teiresius could know more than he does simply offensive. Teiresius, sensing Oedipus' hostility toward him, warns the king that when Oedipus berates him that " such taunts will... cast the selfsame taunts on you", (p. 126, ln. 73). One would assume that Oedipus, knowing Teiresius' reputation as a most unfailing and precise prophet would take heed in his further dealings with fate.

However, in a style most befitting his character, he ignores these insights. Only when Teiresius mentions Oedipus' parents does Oedipus listen. His interest sparked, the king cautiously asks", What mortals gave me birth?" (p. 28, ln. 437). Teiresius elaborates further by stating that the king shall " At once be revealed as brother and father to his own children, husband and son to his mother, his father's kin and murderer". (p. 28, ls. 459-60).

His fate has been stated bluntly to him, and Oedipus still does not comprehend the obvious. He replies with this, 'what will come will come, even if I shroud it all in silence' (342-343). In this sense, Oedipus is quite right in telling Tiresias:' Your words are nothing' (365). However, the prophecy drove Oedipus away from home; the terror of the predictions was too much to live with. Oedipus tried everything not to meet the prophecy, and still when he came to Thebes and became a king Oedipus married an older lady. It was his choice, even when he knew there was a danger.

Oedipus' quest for truth was his choice. And so he rejects any possibility of validity in Teiresius' prognostication, and, in doing this, signs his own sentence. Because of Oedipus' failure to respect the insight of a gifted seer, he is doomed to a blind and bloody end. Oedipus is so enthralled with the idea that he himself could be the murderer of his own father and the husband of his own mother that he abandons everything in search of the truth which he is denying.

Oedipus is finally brought into the seeing world when his incestuous mother turned wife Jacosta imparts to him this hurried warning", Don't, by the gods, investigate this more if you care for your own life". (p. 142, ln. 1059). It seems that Jacosta is living by the old saying that "ignorance is bliss". So she is beginning to sense that the accusations could be true.

Finally, Oedipus starts to give in to his destiny and, ignoring his precious Jacosta's admonitions, he pushes the issue. Oedipus learns that he was exiled from his home, lived far away, and then wandered home again. Oedipus sends for a Shepherd who has supposedly witnessed the death of a person who could possibly be his father. Oedipus interrogate him and discovers that his fate will soon be sealed and the accusations were not accusations, but the truth. Realizing who he is and who his parents are, Oedipus screams that he sees the truth, and flees back into the palace. Jocasta proceeds to take her own fate into her hands by committing suicide.

We see here that realization of your own fate and the fate of others is overbearing. Oedipus also tries once again to control his fate, by taking the gold pins that held Jacosta's robes together, and with them, stabbed out his eyes... Oedipus asks that he be banished from Thebes, that his destiny is his alone. He is ultimately forced to face his own fate, when if he had just appreciated it in the first place, he may have not have had to deal with the tragedies that occur.

Oedipus is driven to lunacy by the overwhelming thoughts of what may have be enif he had only listened to any of the admonitions provided him. These thoughts are so provoking that the former king is pushed to lacerate his own eyes. He goes to such lengths as to banish himself... Oedipus' fate was determined before he was even born, and by trying to overcome it, he actually perfectly fulfilled the prophecies. Oedipus thought that he outsmarted the Gods, but in fact every move he made moved him closer to prophesy becoming a reality..