fate vs. free will in oedipus

fate vs. free will in oedipus

In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, the plays protagonist, Oedipus is placed in a bizarre and debilitating situation. Before he was born, the gods placed a fate upon him; he was to kill his father and marry his mother. Upon discovery of their child’s fate, the king and queen of Thebes had their son brought to a hilltop with his feet pinned together. He was to be left there until he died, thus saving a gruesome situation from unfolding. Yet, through the kindness and compassion of a shepherd and a king, Oedipus is saved. Fate has destined Oedipus to carry out this deed and because he survived, the wheels were set in motion. This exemplifies how man has no control over his own fate, and is powerless to try to stop it. Some may say that Oedipus was a victim of his own free will and human flaws; however, upon analyzing the given details, it is clear he could not escape the fate that was destined to happen.
In order to fully interpret why Oedipus’ prophecy is a terrible one, the definition of a fate must be understood. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a fate is, “The principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity.” (Fate) The key word in the definition of fate is unalterably, this proves that Oedipus could not escape the path that was laid out for him. In the course of the play Oedipus reveals what the oracle revealed as his fate:
Oedipus: I went to the shrine at Delphi
The god dismissed my question without reply;
He spoke of other things.
Some were clear.
Full of wretchedness, dreadful, unbearable:
As, that I should lie with my own mother, breed
Children from whom all men would turn their eyes;
And that I should be my father’s murderer. (Sophocles II, 262-268)
So, if one were to look at this fate, it is undeniably evident that Oedipus had completed it. With or without his free will,...