Fate And Free Will In Sophocles Oedipus The King

"I am the master of my fate and the captain of my destiny." These were the great words of poet, William Ernest Henley. However, how true are these words? Many people believe the exact opposite. They believe that everything that happens is predetermined by fate. With this belief you go from the captain commanding the ship to just a lowly passenger simply along for the ride. We may never know in this life the true answer to the question of fate and free will, but that has never stopped wrtiters from exploring the concept. Sophocles' Oedipus the King is one of the many pieces that questions the power of man over the power of universe. But alas, it is the power of man that seems to over power the control of the universe or fate as some call it. Oedipus makes several choices that ultimetly lead to his demise. Although he would may like to blame it on some other unseen force, I believe Oedipus chose his own fate. …show more content…
As the King of the city Oedipus instantly springs into action to find the murderer. After consulting with the oracle, he learns that he is the killer. The king then reminisces to a time when he killed a man who resembled Laius. This should have served as a warning for the king, but he continued on his search. "Listen to you? No more. I must know it all, see the truth at last". Sadly, his finds out he indeed is the killer of Laius, albeit, by accident. Had the king discontinued his search at the first sign of trouble he may have been able to avoid the truth. However, he chose to continue on and unfortunately did not have the best outcome. Similiarly, Oedipus' parents made poor choices that lead to devastation. As the play unfolds we learned that Jocasta is Oedipus' mother. She abandoned her Oedipus as an infant. What would drive a new mom to leave her innocent child for dead? A prophet told her that her offspring would grow to kill her husband." An