Fate vs. Freewill
Oedipus Rex is a tragedy of fate. People seem helpless when they face the circumstances that mold their destiny. King Laius of Thebes was told that his son would kill him, and then go on to marry his mother. As soon as his wife Jocasta gave birth to the boy, Laius gave him to his servant so that he would leave the child on Mount Cithaeron to die. The servant couldn’t kill the baby, so he handed him over to a shepherd, who then gave him to the Corinthian King. The child grew up thinking he was the son of the King and Queen of Corinth.
Oedipus learnt from a prophet that he would kill his father and marry his mother, and like his parents, Oedipus tried extremely hard to escape his fate. After running away and killing his real dad, he came to Thebes. The city was being terrorized by the Sphinx, and because nobody was able to solve her riddle, she wouldn’t leave. Oedipus solved the riddle, and as a reward he became king of Thebes and took Laius’s widow as his wife. In complete ignorance of the identity of his parents he killed his father and married his mother. He did this not only unknowingly, but also as a result of the fate that the oracle at Delphi had relayed to him. Oedipus didn’t create his own downfall. It is clear that the events that brought about the tragedy in the life of Oedipus are work of the mystical power which may be called fate or destiny.
Though Oedipus is a great and an honest administrator, he is not, however, a perfect man nor a perfect King. He is hot-tempered, rash, hasty in forming judgments, easily provoked, and even somewhat illogical. Even though he respects Teiresias, he quickly loses his temper and acusses both him and Creon of betrayal. When he sentences Creon to death and then withdraws the punishment shows his impulsiveness and arbitrariness. When he meets opposition, or he thinks he does, he loses his temper. His pride in his intelligence and power are evident flaws and show lack wisdom.
The Term Paper on Oedipus The King Kill His Father
... Oedipus successfully answered the riddle, rescuing Thebes from the Sphinx. Then he married Jocasta, the wife of Laius, king of Thebes, who had recently been killed. ... with fate - a character tempts fate, thinks he can change fate or doesn't realize what fate has in store for him. In Oedipus the King, fate is ...
A major question comes up then: what does freewill have to do with Oedipus’ fate? People would argue that if he had not acted so hasty he might not have fought his father at the intersection. Also, if he was more cautious he might have reconsidered marrying a woman so old that she could be is mother. But at the same time, it has to be known that oracle’s prediction was unavoidable. Even if Oedipus had taken the precautions hinted at above, the prophecy was going to be fulfilled. The oracle’s prediction was unconditional; the oracle didn’t say that if Oedipus took these precautions then he could have escaped his fate.
In the movie Minority Report, the same goes for John Anderton. He takes every precaution to not kill the guy he was prophesized to kill, but as predicted, he does kill the guy, even though it wasn’t the way he thought it would happen. Agatha prophesized that he would kill him at a certain time, and it did happen at that time. There was no way for him to avoid it. What was going to happen was going to happen.
Antigone is very arguable. The blind prophet does warn Creon that if he does not bury Polyneices and let Antigone out of her tomb that Creon will be cursed. Creon, in fear of the negative possibilities, sends his men out to bury Polyneices and uncover Antigone, but it was too late. Antigone had hung herself, Creon’s son and Antigone’s fiancé has killed himself next to her body, and that his wife, upon hearing that her son killed himself, also kills herself. Creon blames that all his actions had led up to that, which makes Antigone a debatable as to whether fate or freewill is responsible. As in Oedipus and Minority Report, his actions did not play a role in the outcome at all. His destiny had already been written in the stars, and Tiersias the blind prophet told Creon his fate late enough that Creon couldn’t change it.
So finally to conclude, even if they did not have the flaws in his character, the tragedy was inevitable. The accountability of fate cannot be denied.
The Essay on Comparison between Creon and Antigone in Oedipus the King
In the Oedipus plays, two of the major characters include Creon, the brother in law of Oedipus and Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus. Although these two characters play different roles in the plays Oedipus the King and Antigone, they share a lot of similarities. Basically, one of the similarities that Creon and Antigone have is that the burdens that they carried throughout the plays were passed ...
