The aspect of Fate and truth in the play Oedipus
Oedipus the King is a play written by Sophocles in 429 BC. Sophocles is an ancient tragedian of Greek origin who lived between 496 and 406 BC in Athens. During his life, Sophocles served in the Greek government, military, and religious positions. His most notable writing, “Oedipus the King,” explains a story of a Greek king, Oedipus, who lived a life of Fate. Since his birth by her mother, Jocasta, and Laius, Oedipus was thrown into the mountains, whereby he was raised by a farmer to avoid the Fate of killing his father and marrying his mother. Through the story, Fate and truth are dominant aspects that can be related in real life. The part where Oedipus starts acknowledging that his Fate has been fulfilled serves as the primary focus for this paper. Fate cannot be escaped, and in the end, it brings out the inconvenient truth that people must live by. This paper evaluates the aspect of Fate and truth in the play Oedipus.
Despite our actions, behavior, and beliefs in life, we are all fated to achieve something. Fate cannot be controlled by an individual, and through Fate, the things in our life happen (Gropper 198). In the religious context, God determines our destiny, and our actions do not determine what we experience. Again, in the contemporary world, Fate determines all the things that we see happening to us. For this reason, we cannot control our Fate through our actions or deeds.
In the play, Fate is presented as being shaped by external forces rather than the idea of behavior and morals. Oedipus, is presented as a man of high morals and principles in the play. Being a king, he shows great care and love for his nation and does numerous things to prove his love for the kingdom. For instance, he swears and promises to explore the cause of the plagues and curses tearing apart the kingdom. In her revelation, Jocasta says, “Why could someone fear fortune, already decided” (Finglass 2. Passage 1, lines 1000, 1005). Even with these morals, Oedipus has to live by his Fate. For this reason, his actions and ethical leadership did not spare him from achieving his Fate.
The concept of Fate is highly related to that of destiny, but they mean different things. Fate is what we encounter in life, and how we treat this Fate is what we determine for ourselves. Destiny is what follows after we achieve our Fate, and in essence, destiny refers to the actions we take upon meeting our destiny. For instance, we could be fated to become great politicians or even people with great legacies. However, in this context, our destiny is defined by the actions we take when in these fate positions. For instance, we could be great leaders but oppress people, which implies that we have determined our destiny through our actions.
Connectedly, in “Oedipus the King,” Oedipus was fated to kill the King and marry his mother. When he was born, his father wanted him dead because he knew the child would kill him. However, his mother spared him and had him taken away by a servant. After the numerous years in search of his family, Oedipus then realizes that he had killed his father and married his mother. This part of killing his father and marriage to his mother was his Fate (Gaskin, 480, passage 2, Lines 1376-1380). However, deciding to blind himself and plead to be killed was his destiny. For this reason, Fate and destiny of Oedipus were different.
In explaining the concept of Fate, it is crucial to understand that Fate cannot be escaped. Fate is controlled by external forces, and its occurrence does not grant human beings a chance to decide it. For instance, if we a fated to be in a particular department in our work stations, we have to find ourselves in these stations (Gropper 198). This implies that regardless of the measures we take in escaping from what we fear, we always have to find ourselves living in our Fate.
Just like in real life, Oedipus tried to escape his destiny, which proved impossible for him. After escaping his family, Oedipus went to Oracle to learn his Fate, whereby he was told that he would kill his father and marry his mother. After learning this revelation, he took numerous measures to evade the idea of doing these unthinkable things. In the chorus, “People of Thebes, how deep into the sea has misfortune taken him” (Nassar 3, passage 3, Lines 1553-1558). In this chorus, Oedipus, a great king, is said to have gone into deep misfortune as a result of his Fate. However, despite all his caution, he still killed his father and married his mother. For this reason, Oedipus was unable to escape his Fate, and similarly, we cannot escape our fates.
We always face Fate, which we cannot escape, but through the free will that we determine whether to live with it or not. Human beings always achieve what they are fated to achieve, but it is through their free-will to choose between good and evil that they can determine the life they lead in their Fate. Through our free will, we can live in our Fate either by embracing it or by fleeing, letting it conquer us.
Just like life gives all human beings a free-will to choose between good and evil, Oedipus had the free-will of choosing whether to acknowledge that he was fated to do the things he had done or whether to kill blind himself as he did. After realizing his Fate had occurred, Oedipus developed a hatred for himself and towards his mother. However, initially, he states, “I count myself among the children of chance –I will never allow disgrace” (Nassar 3, passage 5, Lines 1188-1189). In this section, Oedipus does not agree to the face of his Fate and wants to escape it. This led him to blind himself and want to kill his mother, a tragedy that would have been avoided if Oedipus had used his free-will to acknowledge that the occurrence was pre-planned by a natural force.
Because it cannot be escaped, Fate determines the life we lead in life. In life, all the actions, both conscious and non-conscious, are geared towards the achievement of our Fate. For instance, if we are fated to live a luxurious lifestyle, we do actions that propel us towards this Fate. In this context, a person destined to achieving this luxury could find themselves working hard in life or winning lotteries, all to achieve his Fate.
Similarly, life in “Oedipus the King,” since hi birth, Oedipus was fated to kill his father and mother. Going into the mountains and living with a farmer rather than his parents was a reparation for his to fulfill his Fate. For instance, it is through this farmer that Oedipus grew to be a wise man, good enough to tackle a riddle presented by a stranger, his father. Going to the oracle, trying to flee away from his hometown, and accepting to marry the deceased King’s wife was all in line with helping him fulfill his Fate. In his last days, he states, “What purpose did my eyes serve? Nothing they could see to bring joy to me’ (Sophocles 7, lines 1471-1472). For this reason, all his early life was a preparation for his Fate.
Through the different concepts of Fate analyzed in this paper, I have to the realization that we cannot escape our Fate. Our behaviors do not determine our Fate; thus, by doing good or being ethical in our actions, we do not change what is fated to happen in our lives. In the play “Oedipus the King,” even though Oedipus was a manner of good morals, he was not spared of his Fate. Again, Fate determines where we land in life, but destiny determines what we do in our new positions. In the play, Oedipus was fated to kill his father and marry his mother but wrote his destiny by blinding himself. In conjunction with Fate and destiny, we all have a free will of whether to embracing our Fate. Oedipus decided to blind himself after meeting his Fate. From these revelations in the analysis of this play, it is evident that we cannot escape our Fate.