title “You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it” (Goldie Hawn). Hawn explains the issue of fate. While we may avoid it at all costs, it will still lead us to our destiny. This is a common theme in the ancient greek play, Oedipus the King by Sophocles. In the play, the king of Thebes, Oedipus, receives a fate from the gods of killing his father and marrying his mother. He attempts to avoid this predestined outcome by leaving his believed to be parents in Corinth, yet on his journey he meets a crossroads where he unknowingly kills his true father, Laius the late king of Thebe. In Thebes he solves the riddle of the Sphinx, resulting in his marriage to the former queen Jocasta and his coronation. Jocasta was previously married
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He is blinded by his inflexibility. While Tiresias may be the physically blind one, he is actually the one with true sight because he sees Oedipus’ corruption. If Oedipus could be open minded, he would question his opinions and may have noticed discontinuities in his life. For example, both Oedipus and Jocasta received fates from the gods and if they both weren’t so sure that they fooled the gods than they would have discussed their fears with each other resulting in a discovery of the truth. This character flaw of Oedipus makes him a victim of fate because he cannot ultimately change his identity and characteristics. His stubbornness influences his decisions which leads to his fate. He cannot escape this characteristic, ultimately leading to his horrid …show more content…
Oedipus is very focussed on himself, whether that be his victories, his wealth, his power or his general privileged, fortunate life. He has a hard time seeing others perspectives, such as when he claimed that Creon was trying to take his throne when in fact Creon was trying to help Oedipus. Oedipus could not see the fact that Creon has no interest in this responsibility because he already has wealth and power. This self-centered attitude prevents Oedipus from connecting with others, such as Jocasta. Oedipus and Jocasta have been married for years. They have children together and have clearly spent much time in each others company, yet Oedipus knows little to none of Jocasta’s god given fate: JOCASTA. An oracle came to Laius one fine day (I won’t say from Apollo himself but his underlings his priests) and it declared that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son, to be born of our own flesh and blood
He is blinded by his inflexibility. While Tiresias may be the physically blind one, he is actually the one with true sight because he sees Oedipus’ corruption. If Oedipus could be open minded, he would question his opinions and may have noticed discontinuities in his life. For example, both Oedipus and Jocasta received fates from the gods and if they both weren’t so sure that they fooled the gods than they would have discussed their fears with each other resulting in a discovery of the truth. This character flaw of Oedipus makes him a victim of fate because he cannot ultimately change his identity and characteristics. His stubbornness influences his decisions which leads to his fate. He cannot escape this characteristic, ultimately leading to his horrid …show more content…
Oedipus is very focussed on himself, whether that be his victories, his wealth, his power or his general privileged, fortunate life. He has a hard time seeing others perspectives, such as when he claimed that Creon was trying to take his throne when in fact Creon was trying to help Oedipus. Oedipus could not see the fact that Creon has no interest in this responsibility because he already has wealth and power. This self-centered attitude prevents Oedipus from connecting with others, such as Jocasta. Oedipus and Jocasta have been married for years. They have children together and have clearly spent much time in each others company, yet Oedipus knows little to none of Jocasta’s god given fate: JOCASTA. An oracle came to Laius one fine day (I won’t say from Apollo himself but his underlings his priests) and it declared that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son, to be born of our own flesh and blood