Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Driven b

The Role of Fate in Oedipus Rex Before we approach this convoluted question inductively, we ar at first obliged to contemplate what definitions and assumptions are being made. This essay, maybe more so than others, requires a more coarse look at this aspect of the question, because of the sheer variety of possible responses. However, I now have reduced them to three possibilities. Firstly, we could make the assumption that perhaps as destiny controls all fates, then Oedipus point of reference was created long originally he was conceived. On the other hand, we could also say that perhaps Oedipus direful fate came about because of his character and fate. The final possibility is that everything is inevitable - thus no one ever has had any say in their own fate, let alone Oedipus. In this essay I would like to talk of these three ideas, and perhaps draw a conclusion at the abate on which I feel to be the most valid. The first resolving power to this question, as I said ear lier, is the idea that destiny makes character. As destiny supposedly in the Greek mindset maps out all events in front they occur, we can today assume with this logic that perhaps the components that built Oedipus character were caused by fate. We know today that character is determined by biologic factors and experience. These biological factors would have been determined by how intumesce he was fed, how well he developed, his genes etcetera. The experience would have also been determined by the pre-destined acquire plan of Fate. Thus it is possible to argue that Oedipus, as components of his character and mind, was all told shaped by fate and therefore cannot be held responsible for what he has done, as he has no control over his actions. But the expound that th... ...e dealt with in a normal way. This is theatre. It has been crafted to look as though the spill is due to some error of action, strongly interlaced with fate. Yet notwithstanding all this, I do not feel that this is how the play has materialised. It seems to me as though Oedipus could not have stopped the actual horrific incest and patricide occurring, unaccompanied the realisation of it. To me, as a non-believer in fate, nothing is due to Oedipus character. He seems merely unfortunate, a victim of superstition. Yet to those of you who accept fate, then perhaps this could be the explanation. It is a completely subjective decision, based on a personal interpretation. This is something that I cannot decide. Thus I leave the decision open, tho my decision closed. Neither is right, and neither is wrong. Works CitedSophocles. Oedipus Rex. New York Dover Publications, Inc., 1991.