Hard-Determinism In Oedipus The King

‘Oedipus Rex’ displays its theme of hard-determinism in it’s central plot device: a prophecy. By establishing a set timeline/occurrence of events, it argues that regardless of the intentions of it’s characters, the fate of said characters cannot be altered, and will in fact come to pass in it’s own way. While Oedipus attempted to dispel the several prophecies that were proposed, such as killing his father and bedding his mother, in the end all came to be true, and in fact had already come to pass.
The first prophecy in the timeline, that Laius’ son will be his killer , comes to pass due to the fact that the Laius family abandoned their son. By giving their son away to the Shepherd , they set Oedipus in motion to seek the true nature of his parents , in turn leading him to run into his true father, Laius . While the intention of Oedipus’ parents were to send him far away, so that he may not kill his father, their actions (caused by their learning of the prophecy) led directly to the prophecy’s fulfillment. As such, …show more content…
Oedipus first springs to action as a result of the plague in Thebes . He quickly learns that this plague is one of religious connotations, it being a result of Laius’ murder being unsolved . Oedipus, after some investigation, then learns that the murder shall be the father and brother to his children, as well as the son and husband of his wife . While this has already come to pass, as Oedipus has wed Jocasta, his mother, and bore two children, it must be acknowledged that Oedipus would have never married Jocasta if not for the death of Laius. Without a drawn-out connection between prophecies, the prophecy given to Laius and Jocasta years prior was directly responsible for the prophecy given to Oedipus upon talking to Tiresias. The characters attempted to dispel these prophecies, as any sane person would, in turn causing the prophecies to come to