Fate Versus Free Will In Oedipus The King

The theme of free will vs fate is significant in the play so far. Readers learn early on that “ The oracle of Delphi tells King Laius of Thebes that he will have a child who is destined to kill him and sleep with his wife, jocasta , the boy's own mother.”(sophocles) this then reveals Oedipus’s fate and In greek culture the gods forbid anyone to run from his fate, which oedipus tries to do. Oedipus then says to the people of Thebes “ Ban him from your homes ,every one of you for he is our pollution, as the Pythian god has revealed to me.” (sophocles) this shows that oedipus believes has has free will. While he is actually cursing himself .Good paragraph! Don’t forget the closing As the action rises, the theme of fate vs free will becomes more apparent. As we get deeper into the play …show more content…
He is starting to realize that he might have really killed king Laius.
. As Oedipus realizes the truth he says to Creon “cast me out as quickly as you can, away from Thebes, to a place where no one, no living human being , will cross my path.” (Sophocles) Oedipus has now banished himself from Thebes because he is full of guilt because of what he has done. Oedipus then says to Creon again “i've come abhorrent to the gods” (Sophocles) he now believes that the gods have disowned him for thinking he could outrun his fate. Because to say you have free will is saying that there is not fate which means there are no gods. threw out the play Oedipus the king. the theme of fate vs free will is definitely the most apparent. Threw out most of the play oedipus thought he had free will. When he truly did not. He tried to outrun his fate. But he couldn't. When the truth finally came out he friend to ignore his guilty Conscience , the truth finally came to light. The play oedipus teaches us that if it's meant to happen it will be. But if it's not, and you ignore the signs. It will eventually come out and hurt