oedipus rex essay on fate

Oedipus Rex

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The ancient Greeks believed that their gods could see the future, and that certain people could access this information. Prophets or seers, like blind Tiresias , saw visions of things to come. Oracles, priests who resided at the temples of gods—such as the oracle to Apollo at Delphi—were also believed to be able to interpret the gods' visions and give prophecies to people who sought to know the future. During the fifth century B.C.E., however, when Sophocles was writing his plays, intellectuals within Athenian society had begun to question the legitimacy of the oracles and of the traditional gods. Some of this tension is plain to see in Oedipus Rex , which hinges on two prophecies. The first is the prophecy received by King Laius of Thebes that he would have a son by Queen Jocasta who would grow up to kill his own father. The second is the prophecy that Oedipus received that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus all work to prevent the prophecies from coming to pass, but their efforts to thwart the prophecies are what actually bring the prophecies to completion.

This raises a question at the heart of the play: does Oedipus have any choice in the matter? He ends up killing his father and marrying his mother without knowing it—in fact, when he is trying to avoid doing these very things. Does he have free will—the ability to choose his own path—or is everything in life predetermined? Jocasta argues that the oracles are a sham because she thinks the prediction that her son would kill her husband never came to pass. When she finds out otherwise, she kills herself. In Oedipus Rex , Oedipus has fulfilled his terrible prophecy long ago, but without knowing it. He has already fallen into his fate. One could argue that he does have free will, however, in his decision to pursue the facts about his past, despite many suggestions that he let it go. In this argument, Oedipus's destruction comes not from his deeds themselves but from his persistent efforts to learn the truth, through which he reveals the true nature of those terrible deeds. Oedipus himself makes a different argument at the end of the play, when he says that his terrible deeds were fated, but that it was he alone who chose to blind himself. Here, Oedipus is arguing that while it is impossible to avoid one's fate, how you respond to your fate is a matter of free will.

Fate vs. Free Will ThemeTracker

Fate vs. Free Will Quotes in Oedipus Rex

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Oedipus Rex: Tragedy, Fate, and Ancient Wisdom

This insightful essay delves into the timeless tragedy of “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles, exploring its profound narrative and enduring themes. It presents Oedipus’s tragic journey, marked by his efforts to escape a harrowing prophecy, only to fulfill it inadvertently. The essay highlights the play’s exploration of fate versus free will, the quest for truth, and the limits of human knowledge. It discusses the symbolic contrast between sight and blindness, emphasizing how physical vision differs from insight. The piece reflects on the play’s commentary on the human condition, touching on universal experiences of suffering, the pursuit of knowledge, and the journey towards self-awareness. Concluding with the acknowledgment of Sophocles’ literary genius, the essay portrays “Oedipus Rex” as not just a cornerstone of classical literature, but a mirror to the timeless and complex nature of human existence, posing questions about fate, free will, and the essence of human understanding that continue to resonate in the modern world. Additionally, PapersOwl presents more free essays samples linked to Oedipus Rex.

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Dive into the world of ancient Greek drama, and you’ll encounter “Oedipus Rex,” a play that’s not just a story but a journey into the complex interplay of fate, free will, and human nature. Written by Sophocles, one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, this play is a masterpiece that has stood the test of time, resonating with audiences for centuries.

“Oedipus Rex,” also known as “Oedipus the King,” unravels the tale of Oedipus, the king of Thebes, known for his intelligence and quick problem-solving.

The story hinges on a prophecy that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother, a fate he desperately tries to avoid. However, the more Oedipus tries to escape his destiny, the closer he gets to fulfilling it. The tragic irony of Oedipus’s situation lies at the heart of the play’s enduring appeal.

At the start of the play, Thebes is suffering from a plague, and Oedipus vows to save his city. His quest for the truth leads to the realization of the dreadful prophecy’s fulfillment. The journey of Oedipus is a profound exploration of themes like fate versus free will, the nature of truth, and the limits of human knowledge. Sophocles masterfully weaves these themes into the narrative, creating a play that is as thought-provoking as it is tragic.

One of the most striking aspects of “Oedipus Rex” is its exploration of fate and free will. The ancient Greeks believed in the power of fate and the gods’ influence on human lives, but Sophocles introduces the idea that human actions and free will also play a significant role in shaping destiny. Oedipus’s relentless pursuit of the truth, despite numerous warnings to stop, highlights the complexity of human agency and the consequences of our choices.

The play also delves into the theme of sight and blindness. Oedipus, known for his clear-sightedness in solving the riddle of the Sphinx, is ironically blind to the truth of his own situation. This metaphorical blindness versus the literal blindness of the prophet Tiresias creates a dramatic contrast. It underscores the idea that physical sight is not the same as insight or understanding, a concept that resonates deeply in the human experience.

“Oedipus Rex” is not just a tale of personal tragedy but also a reflection of the human condition. It touches on the universal human experience of suffering, the quest for knowledge, and the often painful journey towards self-awareness. The play’s tragic end, where Oedipus blinds himself upon realizing the truth, serves as a powerful reminder of the price of knowledge and the fragility of human existence.

In conclusion, “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles is a cornerstone of classical literature, a play that transcends time and culture. Its exploration of themes like fate, truth, and human nature continues to captivate and provoke thought among modern audiences. It’s a testament to Sophocles’ genius and the enduring power of Greek tragedy to reflect the complexities and paradoxes of the human experience. As we revisit this ancient masterpiece, we find ourselves confronting the same fundamental questions about fate, free will, and the human condition that have intrigued humanity for millennia.

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The Role of Fate in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” Essay

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Introduction

Works cited.

Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex deals with the tragedy of Oedipus and one understands that his tragedy was predetermined by fate. The Greeks believed in the power of oracles, prophesies, predestination and myths, and were very much preoccupied with good and evil. Sophocles makes use of all these elements in the Oedipus Rex and the fact that the audience is aware of the myth of Oedipus foreshadows his fate in the beginning of the play.

The oracle predicts that Oedipus would be killing his own father and marrying his own mother. Since then, Oedipus tries to escape the inevitable fate that awaits him. The greatest irony of the play is that al his efforts to evade the destiny bring him closer to it and the play shows how futile is Oedipus’ human efforts to escape his destiny.

Oedipus’ personal traits of pride, honor, hubris, anger, annoyance and his incessant quest to know the truth bring him closer to his tragic fate. It was Oedipus’ hubris or his inability to control his hot temper that leads to the murder of Laius the king. The play opens with an unnatural plague that falls as a curse on the people of Thebes. Oedipus’ self is so much determined and resolved to find out the actual reason for the plague; he shows heroic courage and honor to fight for the cause of the nation and his people. When Tiresias tells him that he is the actual polluter, he becomes annoyed and angry.

He plainly states “I know I am right” (p. 43) and goes in pursuit of the truth to prove himself innocent. But later when the messenger from Corinth states that “Polypus is no kin”(Sophocles, p. 35) of his, his self becomes all the more confused. Being courageous and adamant he doesn’t stop his pursuit; he is, instead, more determined to find the mystery of his birth. This is evident when he states “I must pursue this trial to the end….I can’t leave the truth unknown” (Sophocles, p. 55). His self is so resolute and even Jocasta’s attempt to stop him proves to be futile. Later, the old shepherd’s confession shatters his own optimistic self and his self-discovery leads to his own downfall.

The play conveys the message that it is not possible for humans to fight the supernatural, however courageous and intelligent he is. The irony of Oedipus being clever enough to solve the riddle of the sphinx, yet being utterly devoid of self-knowledge, is evident in the play. Thus, the play clearly convinces the spectators that man is unable to alter the fate ordained on him. His downfall, thus, “stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions.” (Introduction to Greek Tragedy: Genre – Tragedy).

The role of the chorus in the play is very much significant. All throughout the play, the chorus stands with Oedipus and it pictures him as an efficient, noble, and heroic leader. Even when Teiresias turns against Oedipus, the chorus provides support to the protagonist. In fact, the chorus acts as a commentator in the play who foreshadows and sympathizes with the plight that awaits Oedipus. In a way, the chorus in the play echoes the inner feelings of the audiences and its primary function is to evoke feelings of pity and fear among the spectators.

Teiresias, in the play, acts as a foil to the character of Oedipus, and the physical blindness of Teiresias is contrasted with the mental blindness of the latter. Even though Tiresias is physically blind, he knows the truth and can understand the working of the supernatural elements. Oedipus, when he ultimately realizes the truth, is helpless and there is no other alternative for him rather than succumb himself to the inevitable fate that surmounts him.

This helplessness of Oedipus is made clear when the chorus states that he “held the key to the deepest mysteries,” but “misfortune swept over his head” and the implication of this is that no one can be completely happy until “he carries his happiness down to the grave in peace.” (Sophocles, p. 68). Thus, the play shows the vulnerable nature of the human predicament and it reinforces the fact that man’s fate is preordained and predestined.

Sophocles. The Theban Plays. London & New York:: Penguin Books. 1974.

Introduction to Greek Tragedy: Genre – Tragedy. AbleMedia: Classic Technology Center. 1998-2000. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2021, September 24). The Role of Fate in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-role-of-fate-in-sophocles-oedipus-rex/

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1. IvyPanda . "The Role of Fate in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”." September 24, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-role-of-fate-in-sophocles-oedipus-rex/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Role of Fate in Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex”." September 24, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-role-of-fate-in-sophocles-oedipus-rex/.

Fate vs Free Will in Oedipus Rex

Fate vs free will is a complex question. It’s been discussed by philosophers and theologians for centuries, and there are many different opinions about what happens in the universe to make things turn out one way or another. In this post, we explore the idea of fate versus free will in Oedipus Rex – a story that is all about destiny playing a large role in people’s lives.

Fate vs Free Will

Fate and free will are both important concepts in the play Oedipus Rex. Though fate and free will work together and complement one another, they can also contradict each other at times. Fate’s role is to dictate that everything that happens must happen for a reason, while free will is the power of choice. Ultimately, fate is unavoidable even when free will comes into play.

The audience and reader, however, understand that the workings of fate and destiny are in motion. Fate actually guides Oedipus to do the exact thing from which he is running. This idea lends itself to the thought that fate trumps any sort of “free will” man may think he possesses.

The gravity of Oedipus’ choice to investigate the murder of the previous king to purify his city can also be read as fate in action for it is the oracle who says, “pollution, harbored in the land, we must drive hence, nor harbour irremediably” (335). The course of action that Oedipus thinks he takes on willingly to find Laius’ killer is unwittingly fueled by fate and sees him being led toward doom.

The debate in Oedipus Rex

The debate in Oedipus Rex is one about fate and free will. The argument is between Oedipus and Creon, but the discussion is at its most intense with Teiresias. Oedipus believes that all things are destined to happen by fate, and that we cannot choose our own path. Creon believes that humans have their own free will and they can change things for better if they work hard enough. Teiresias believes in a balance of both, claiming that “the gods alone know all” (line 205).

Read About: The Role of Chorus in Oedipus Rex

Is it possible to have both fate and free will?

The tragic end of Oedipus’s story is predetermined before the beginning. The old Oracle reveals to him that he will murder his father and marry his mother. This end can be prevented only by never leaving the kingdom, but it cannot be avoided. As the action progresses, the theme of fate versus free will becomes clearer.

What does Sophocles think about the nature of fate?

Sophocles’s opinion of fate is more complex than the average person’s. He does not believe that fate is a strict and unforgiving force, but he does think it has a will. Fate wills that certain events take place because it has a plan for a specific type of individual that will bring balance to society as a whole. Sophocles never says what the fate’s will is—which I find interesting.

How does free will affect the story?

Oedipus Rex is a tragedy, and in tragedies the protagonist’s fate is sealed from the start. This means that whatever happens to them does not depend on their own free will, but rather on fate. So in this story, Oedipus’ fate is sealed because he must kill his father and marry his mother, which can be seen as inevitable.

Chorus exclaims, “all-seeing Time hath found and doomed…” (360) this expresses that time sees all; fate and the course of time are powerful things that no man can outdo. Man can neither understand nor seek to stop the will of the gods, and it is pointless to try as is seen by Oedipus’ tragic example. The conclusion of the story isn’t about fate and free will, but rather, what it takes to reach a point where we can stop using them as scapegoats and truly take control of our own lives.

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The Role of Chorus in Oedipus Rex

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

Analysis of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on July 27, 2020 • ( 0 )

The place of the Oedipus Tyrannus in literature is something like that of the Mona Lisa in art. Everyone knows the story, the first detective story of Western literature; everyone who has read or seen it is drawn into its enigmas and moral dilemmas. It presents a kind of nightmare vision of a world suddenly turned upside down: a decent man discovers that he has unknowingly killed his father, married his mother, and sired children by her. It is a story that, as Aristotle says in the Poetics , makes one shudder with horror and feel pity just on hearing it. In Sophocles’ hands, however, this ancient tale becomes a profound meditation on the questions of guilt and responsibility, the order (or disorder) of our world, and the nature of man. The play stands with the Book of Job, Hamlet, and King Lear as one of Western literature’s most searching examinations of the problem of suffering.

—Charles Segal, Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge

No other drama has exerted a longer or stronger hold on the imagination than Sophocles’ Oedipus the King (also known as Oedipus Tyrannus or Oedipus Rex ). Tragic drama that is centered on the dilemma of a single central character largely begins with Sophocles and is exemplified by his Oedipus, arguably the most influential play ever written. The most famous of all Greek dramas, Sophocles’ play, supported by Aristotle in the Poetics, set the standard by which tragedy has been measured for nearly two-and-a-half millennia. For Aristotle, Sophocles’ play featured the ideal tragic hero in Oedipus, a man of “great repute and good fortune,” whose fall, coming from his horrifying discovery that he has killed his father and married his mother, is masterfully arranged to elicit tragedy’s proper cathartic mixture of pity and terror. The play’s relentless exploration of human nature, destiny, and suffering turns an ancient tale of a man’s shocking history into one of the core human myths. Oedipus thereby joins a select group of fictional characters, including Odysseus, Faust, Don Juan, and Don Quixote, that have entered our collective consciousness as paradigms of humanity and the human condition. As classical scholar Bernard Knox has argued, “Sophocles’ Oedipus is not only the greatest creation of a major poet and the classic representative figure of his age: he is also one of a long series of tragic protagonists who stand as symbols of human aspiration and despair before the characteristic dilemma of Western civilization—the problem of man’s true stature, his proper place in the universe.”

For nearly 2,500 years Sophocles’ play has claimed consideration as drama’s most perfect and most profound achievement. Julius Caesar wrote an adaptation; Nero allegedly acted the part of the blind Oedipus. First staged in a European theater in 1585, Oedipus has been continually performed ever since and reworked by such dramatists as Pierre Corneille, John Dryden, Voltaire, William Butler Yeats, André Gide, and Jean Cocteau. The French neoclassical tragedian Jean Racine asserted that Oedipus was the ideal tragedy, while D. H. Lawrence regarded it as “the finest drama of all time.” Sigmund Freud discovered in the play the key to understanding man’s deepest and most repressed sexual and aggressive impulses, and the so-called Oedipus complex became one of the founding myths of psychoanalysis. Oedipus has served as a crucial mirror by which each subsequent era has been able to see its own reflection and its understanding of the mystery of human existence.

If Aeschylus is most often seen as the great originator of ancient Greek tragedy and Euripides is viewed as the great outsider and iconoclast, it is Sophocles who occupies the central position as classical tragedy’s technical master and the age’s representative figure over a lifetime that coincided with the rise and fall of Athens’s greatness as a political and cultural power in the fifth century b.c. Sophocles was born in 496 near Athens in Colonus, the legendary final resting place of the exiled Oedipus. At the age of 16, Sophocles, an accomplished dancer and lyre player, was selected to lead the celebration of the victory over the Persians at the battle of Salamis, the event that ushered in Athens’s golden age. He died in 406, two years before Athens’s fall to Sparta, which ended nearly a century of Athenian supremacy and cultural achievement. Very much at the center of Athenian public life, Sophocles served as a treasurer of state and a diplomat and was twice elected as a general. A lay priest in the cult of a local deity, Sophocles also founded a literary association and was an intimate of such prominent men of letters as Ion of Chios, Herodotus, and Archelaus. Urbane, garrulous, and witty, Sophocles was remembered fondly by his contemporaries as possessing all the admired qualities of balance and tranquillity. Nicknamed “the Bee” for his “honeyed” style of fl owing eloquence—the highest compliment the Greeks could bestow on a poet or speaker—Sophocles was regarded as the tragic Homer.

In marked contrast to his secure and stable public role and private life, Sophocles’ plays orchestrate a disturbing challenge to assurance and certainty by pitting vulnerable and fallible humanity against the inexorable forces of nature and destiny. Sophocles began his career as a playwright in 468 b.c. with a first-prize victory over Aeschylus in the Great, or City, Dionysia, the annual Athenian drama competition. Over the next 60 years he produced more than 120 plays (only seven have survived intact), winning first prize at the Dionysia 24 times and never earning less than second place, making him unquestionably the most successful and popular playwright of his time. It is Sophocles who introduced the third speaking actor to classical drama, creating the more complex dramatic situations and deepened psychological penetration through interpersonal relationships and dialogue. “Sophocles turned tragedy inward upon the principal actors,” classicist Richard Lattimore has observed, “and drama becomes drama of character.” Favoring dramatic action over narration, Sophocles brought offstage action onto the stage, emphasized dialogue rather than lengthy, undramatic monologues, and purportedly introduced painted scenery. Also of note, Sophocles replaced the connected trilogies of Aeschylus with self-contained plays on different subjects at the same contest, establishing the norm that has continued in Western drama with its emphasis on the intensity and unity of dramatic action. At their core, Sophocles’ tragedies are essentially moral and religious dramas pitting the tragic hero against unalterable fate as defined by universal laws, particular circumstances, and individual temperament. By testing his characters so severely, Sophocles orchestrated adversity into revelations that continue to evoke an audience’s capacity for wonder and compassion.

The story of Oedipus was part of a Theban cycle of legends that was second only to the stories surrounding the Trojan War as a popular subject for Greek literary treatment. Thirteen different Greek dramatists, including Aeschylus and Euripides, are known to have written plays on the subject of Oedipus and his progeny. Sophocles’ great innovation was to turn Oedipus’s horrifying circumstances into a drama of self-discovery that probes the mystery of selfhood and human destiny.

The play opens with Oedipus secure and respected as the capable ruler of Thebes having solved the riddle of the Sphinx and gained the throne and Thebes’s widowed queen, Jocasta, as his reward. Plague now besets the city, and Oedipus comes to Thebes’s rescue once again when, after learning from the oracle of Apollo that the plague is a punishment for the murder of his predecessor, Laius, he swears to discover and bring the murderer to justice. The play, therefore, begins as a detective story, with the key question “Who killed Laius?” as the initial mystery. Oedipus initiates the first in a seemingly inexhaustible series of dramatic ironies as the detective who turns out to be his own quarry. Oedipus’s judgment of banishment for Laius’s murderer seals his own fate. Pledged to restore Thebes to health, Oedipus is in fact the source of its affliction. Oedipus’s success in discovering Laius’s murderer will be his own undoing, and the seemingly percipient, riddle-solving Oedipus will only see the truth about himself when he is blind. To underscore this point, the blind seer Teiresias is summoned. He is reluctant to tell what he knows, but Oedipus is adamant: “No man, no place, nothing will escape my gaze. / I will not stop until I know it all.” Finally goaded by Oedipus to reveal that Oedipus himself is “the killer you’re searching for” and the plague that afflicts Thebes, Teiresias introduces the play’s second mystery, “Who is Oedipus?”

You have eyes to see with, But you do not see yourself, you do not see The horror shadowing every step of your life, . . . Who are your father and mother? Can you tell me?

Oedipus rejects Teiresias’s horrifying answer to this question—that Oedipus has killed his own father and has become a “sower of seed where your father has sowed”—as part of a conspiracy with Jocasta’s brother Creon against his rule. In his treatment of Teiresias and his subsequent condemning of Creon to death, Oedipus exposes his pride, wrath, and rush to judgment, character flaws that alloy his evident strengths of relentless determination to learn the truth and fortitude in bearing the consequences. Jocasta comes to her brother’s defense, while arguing that not all oracles can be believed. By relating the circumstances of Laius’s death, Jocasta attempts to demonstrate that Oedipus could not be the murderer while ironically providing Oedipus with the details that help to prove the case of his culpability. In what is a marvel of ironic plot construction, each step forward in answering the questions surrounding the murder and Oedipus’s parentage takes Oedipus a step back in time toward full disclosure and self-discovery.

As Oedipus is made to shift from self-righteous authority to doubt, a messenger from Corinth arrives with news that Oedipus’s supposed father, Poly-bus, is dead. This intelligence seems again to disprove the oracle that Oedipus is fated to kill his father. Oedipus, however, still is reluctant to return home for fear that he could still marry his mother. To relieve Oedipus’s anxiety, the messenger reveals that he himself brought Oedipus as an infant to Polybus. Like Jocasta whose evidence in support of Oedipus’s innocence turns into confirmation of his guilt, the messenger provides intelligence that will connect Oedipus to both Laius and Jocasta as their son and as his father’s killer. The messenger’s intelligence produces the crucial recognition for Jocasta, who urges Oedipus to cease any further inquiry. Oedipus, however, persists, summoning the herdsman who gave the infant to the messenger and was coincidentally the sole survivor of the attack on Laius. The herdsman’s eventual confirmation of both the facts of Oedipus’s birth and Laius’s murder produces the play’s staggering climax. Aristotle would cite Sophocles’ simultaneous con-junction of Oedipus’s recognition of his identity and guilt with his reversal of fortune—condemned by his own words to banishment and exile as Laius’s murderer—as the ideal artful arrangement of a drama’s plot to produce the desired cathartic pity and terror.

The play concludes with an emphasis on what Oedipus will now do after he knows the truth. No tragic hero has fallen further or faster than in the real time of Sophocles’ drama in which the time elapsed in the play coincides with the performance time. Oedipus is stripped of every illusion of his authority, control, righteousness, and past wisdom and is forced to contend with a shame that is impossible to expiate—patricide and incestual relations with his mother—in a world lacking either justice or alleviation from suffering. Oedipus’s heroic grandeur, however, grows in his diminishment. Fundamentally a victim of circumstances, innocent of intentional sin whose fate was preordained before his birth, Oedipus refuses the consolation of blamelessness that victimization confers, accepting in full his guilt and self-imposed sentence as an outcast, criminal, and sinner. He blinds himself to confirm the moral shame that his actions, unwittingly or not, have provoked. It is Oedipus’s capacity to endure the revelation of his sin, his nature, and his fate that dominates the play’s conclusion. Oedipus’s greatest strengths—his determination to know the truth and to accept what he learns—sets him apart as one of the most pitiable and admired of tragic heroes. “The closing note of the tragedy,” Knox argues, “is a renewed insistence on the heroic nature of Oedipus; the play ends as it began, with the greatness of the hero. But it is a different kind of greatness. It is now based on knowledge, not, as before on ignorance.” The now-blinded Oedipus has been forced to see and experience the impermanence of good fortune, the reality of unimaginable moral shame, and a cosmic order that is either perverse in its calculated cruelty or chaotically random in its designs, in either case defeating any human need for justice and mercy.

The Chorus summarizes the harsh lesson of heroic defeat that the play so majestically dramatizes:

Look and learn all citizens of Thebes. This is Oedipus. He, who read the famous riddle, and we hailed chief of men, All envied his power, glory, and good fortune. Now upon his head the sea of disaster crashes down. Mortality is man’s burden. Keep your eyes fixed on your last day. Call no man happy until he reaches it, and finds rest from suffering.

Few plays have dealt so unflinchingly with existential truths or have as bravely defined human heroism in the capacity to see, suffer, and endure.

Greek Tragedy Lecture Series

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Fate vs Destiny or Fate Vs freewill in "Oedipus Rex"

is fate Only responsible for the downfall of Oedipus ?

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Md. Roknuzzaman Suruz

The myth of Sophocles's Oedipus Rex is revolved on the three interactive perspectives of fate, truth and self-will, making the play a most remarkable one in the fifth century Greece when all the plays focused on the manifestation of God's will under which man's behavior was undoubtedly directed. What gives the play its tragic intensity is not the horror it arouses of patricide or incest but the meaning of fate that God bestows to Oedipus in his endeavor of truth seeking. What's most important, it is the sentimental self-will of Oedipus that makes the play distinguished from other plays during the age of Sophocles' and makes him an outstanding figure in the fifth century Greek. Though Sophocles' plays could not detach themselves from the influence of religious requirement, namely, the divine will, a theme prevailing during his age, he endeavors to present a comparatively different approach of morality, a refusal to compromise of the hero's fate confined by god in literary works of the fifth century Greece. It seems that Sophocles employs the oracles not for the sake of worshipping the Gods, but rather, for the presentation of man's inner strength seeking truths about the conditions of life or about human character based on truth. Résumé: Le mystère d'Oedipus Rex de Sophocles réside dans les trois perspectives interactives : destin,vérité et entêtement, qui rendent ce drame l'un des plus remarquables du XVe siècle de la Grèce où toutes les pièces se consacraient à manifester la volonté de Dieu par laquelle le comportement de l'homme était incontestablement guidé. Ce qui donne à cette pièce son intensité tragique, ce n'est pas la horreur de parricide ou d'inceste, mais le sens du destin que Dieu accorde à Oedipus dans sa recherche de vérité. Ce qui est le plus important, c'est l'entêtement sentimental d'Oedipus qui distingue cette pièce des autre de l'époque de Sophocles et le rend la plus célèbre figure du XVe siècle de la Grèce. Bien que les pièces de Sophocles ne puissent se détacher de l'influence de la demande religieuse, à savoir la volonté divine-un thème prédominant de l'époque, le dramaturge a cherché à présenter une approche relatively différente de la morale, un refus de faire le compromis sur le destin du héros déterminé par Dieu dans les ouvrages littéraires grecs du XVe siècle. Il semble que Sophocles emploie l'oracle non pour vénérer Dieu, mais pour montrer la force intérieure de l'homme dans la recherche de la vérité sur les conditions de vie ou sur les caractères humains basés sur la vérité. Mots-Clés: destin, recherche de la vérité, entêtement, oracle

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis

benjamin kilborne

Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts

International journal of research in English

Bhat Shahid

The current exploration work manages the dramatic ironies which are utilized in the popular Greek tragedy "Oedipus the King" composed by Sophocles. "Oedipus the king" is likewise known by the Latin title "Oedipus Rex" which is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles and was first acted in 429 B.C. Oedipus Rex Chronicles the tale of Oedipus, a man who turns into the king of Thebes who was predetermined from birth to kill his father Laius and wed his mother Jocasta. The play is an illustration of an exemplary misfortune (tragedy), recognizably containing an accentuation on how Oedipus' own issues add to the deplorable saint's ruin, rather than having destiny be the sole reason. "Oedipus Rex", delivered by Sophocles in the development of his forces, is his show-stopper. Aristotle additionally viewed this play as Sophocles best and he often alluded to it as the ideal kind of shocking arrangement. Its significance lies in the mix of a flawlessly developed plot with the significance understanding into human rationale and condition. In this paper we examined the dramatic ironies of this renowned Greek tragedy.

Academic Journal PERSPECTIVE: Language, Education and Literature

Takad Ahmed Chowdhury

Fate is regarded as a central component in tragedy. The significant role of fate is recognized when, despite a character's heroic acts and good intentions, they face death simply because they are doomed to die. But studies confirm that fate does not play a similarly critical role in the tragic denouement of each play. This paper attempts a critical comparison on the role and nature of fate in the downfall of protagonists in the classical Greek and Shakespearean tragedies. By reviewing research-based articles and books, and by reading through selected texts in reader-response approach, this paper attempts to identify the entirely different natures of fate that came into play for the tragic heroes' downfall as portrayed in these two different ages. The findings manifest that the force behind the collapse of the heroes in the classical Greek tragedies was predominantly fate where the hero had little to do but to become a pawn in the hands of external forces beyond his control, while the force behind the tragic events is not external in the Shakespearean tragedies. Rather, the heroes themselves were, on the whole, responsible for their tragic downfalls due to their internal triggers.

The Oedipus papers

Michael Bross

Oedipus Reborn

Tony Thierry Gaillard

More than 14 years of research have led to this new interpretation of the myth of Oedipus. The author shows that Sophocles built his masterpieces on ancient knowledge concerning transgenerational heritages, in reference to the Greek "ate". From Thebes to Colonus, Sophocles relates the rebirth of Oedipus: "this day will see you dying and reborn at once"

Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae

Elżbieta Wesołowska

The author of Oedipus Rex manages to reconstruct the hero’s life path against the background of the map of Greece of his day. In doing so he constructs the imaginary of the protagonist’s identity, one that is inextricably linked to his mental blindness as opposed to the tragic, self-inflicted blindness meted out to himself as a punishment for his crimes.

Steven Smith

Ezema Emmanuel C

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Oedipus Rex

Introduction, definition of a tragedy.

The servant left the child on a mountain top to die but then he feels a soft corner for him and gives him to a shepherd to take him far away. The shepherd names the child as “Oedipus” which means “swollen foot” because his feet get swollen due to the pin that bound his feet together. The shepherd takes the child to Corinth and gives him to Polybus and Merope, the king and queen of Corinth where he grows up as their child.

Oedipus Rex Summary

Soon Creon returns after talking to the oracle. Initially, Creon feels reluctant to speak in front of the whole crowd but then Oedipus forces him to speak and he tells everyone that there is a solution to get rid of the plague. The oracle tells him that if the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes before Oedipus, is found and the justice is brought to him, only then the plague will leave this place. Oedipus promises everyone that he will find the man who killed their king and caused the plague and ensures that he will punish him for his deeds. The priest and the people become satisfied and leave.

Oedipus doesn’t trust him and considers it just as nonsense. He threatens Teiresias by saying that he will always regret saying this nonsense against his king and he considers it is a plot of Creon against him and Oedipus believes that Creon has paid Teiresias to say these things.  Oedipus orders him to leave.  Teiresias then leaves saying his last riddle. He tells that the murderer is in front of them, he is the killer of his father and the husband of his mother, he is the brother of his own children and the son of his own wife, a man who came seeing but will leave this world in blindness.

The chorus also believes in their king and they refuse to accept that Oedipus has committed any crime. They consider him a faithful king who saved their city once because of his wisdom. They also start questioning the wisdom and prophecies of Teiresias.

Her story troubles Oedipus. As she tells him that the king was killed at a place where three roads meet, Oedipus reminds of a similar incident that happened in his life. He also killed a stranger at a place where three roads met. He becomes worried and starts thinking about what Teiresias said. He asks Jocasta to tell him further about this incident and also investigates the appearance of king Laius. The description of Laius by Jocasta is exactly the same as the stranger killed by Oedipus. 

Jocasta leaves the palace to go to the temple to pray for Oedipus and his safety. She also advises him not to worry as it makes her and all other people tense to see their king in this condition.  After some time, a messenger came from Corinth to deliver the news of the death of Oedipus’ father Polybus, the king of Corinth.The messenger tells Oedipus that the people of Corinth now want to make him the ruler that’s why he came to him.

The chorus sings happily because of the new information delivered by the messenger. They also perform the holy dance and they are excited to know about their king’s real parents because they think that Oedipus is the son of some god.

Themes in Oedipus Rex

Individual will/action, pity and fear, plague and health, self-discovery and memories of the past, search for truth, guilt and shame, blind faith, oedipus rex characters analysis.

Oedipus is a short-tempered and a rash decision-maker from the beginning.  In Corinth, someone tells him that he is not the real son of king Polybus. He asks his parents about it but they refuse to accept it. Then he goes to an oracle and gets to know about his fate. The oracle tells him that it is his fate that he will kill his father and marry his mother. He doesn’t consult his parents about it and makes a decision to leave Corinth to escape his fate which never proves helpful. 

Antigone and Ismene

The messenger from corinth, the herdsman, the second messenger, oedipus rex literary analysis, title of the play, setting of the play, ending of the play, writing style, plot analysis, initial situation  , conflict   , complication.

Oedipus leaves the city of Thebes to save it from the curse of plague as he promised and Creon takes charge of the city. 

The three unities in Oedipus Rex

Unity of action, unity of place, unity of time, three act plot analysis, analysis of the literary devices used in oedipus rex, dramatic irony, the scars on oedipus’ feet, the crossroads, eyes, vision and blindness, more from sophocles.

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A Theme Of Fate Vs. Free Will In Oedipus Rex

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