free oedipus rex essays

Enter Your Search Terms to Get Started! Fate vs free will in Oedipus rex In order to examine Oedipus Rex effectively in terms of free will and determinism, one must first understand these concepts fully and are intrinsically woven in to the concept of fate, which is a hugely fore-grounded theme in the play. Fate is derived from the latin word “fatum”, meaning ‘that which has been spoken’. This interpretation is directly linked to the ancient greek belief in the ability of the Gods to dictate and direct a persons life, absolutely. However, a full consideration of free will and determinism in the play necessitates the examination of ‘fatalism’ in the same regard. There exists a significant difference in meaning between determinism and fatalism; determinism being generally interpreted as viewing free will and fate as compatible. It suggests that whilst each event is casually determined, a person’s choices and exertion of free will are part of what helps determine the future. Fatalism on the other hand is the more extreme view that every detail of the future is mapped out and inevitable regardless of a person’s desires and choices. Therefore, to determine how these concepts are deployed in Oedipus Rex, the character’s actions, the repercussions of these actions, the intervention of Apollo, and the role played by fate all need to be examined. Oedipus himself can be seen in several different lights when investigating fate and free will. Firstly, and most obviously, he can be seen as a puppet of fate. This demonstrates a governing thread of fatalism in the play, and suggests that Oedipus has no power over his future. This is demonstrated by the conscious effort Oedipus makes to escape the destiny the Oracle prophesised, such as when he flees Corinth under the misconception that he was leaving his birth parents behind. However, this action only serves to propel him further.
Are people truly responsible for their actions? This question has puzzled humanity throughout history. Over the centuries, people have pondered the influence of divine or diabolical power, environment, genetics, even entertainment, as determining how free any individual is in making moral choices. The ancient Greeks acknowledged the role of Fate as a reality outside the individual that shaped and determined human life. In modern times, the concept of Fate has developed the misty halo of romantic destiny, but for the ancient Greeks, Fate represented a terrifying, unstoppable force. Fate was the will of the gods — an unopposable reality ritually revealed by the oracle at Delphi, who spoke for Apollo himself in mysterious pronouncements. The promise of prophecy drew many, but these messages usually offered the questioner incomplete, maddenly evasive answers that both illuminated and darkened life's path. One famous revelation at Delphi offered a general the tantalizing prophesy that a great victory would be won if he advanced on his enemy. The oracle, however, did not specify to whom the victory would go. By the fifth century, B.C., Athenians frankly questioned the power of the oracle to convey the will of the gods. Philosophers such as Socrates opened rational debate on the nature of moral choices and the role of the gods in human affairs. Slowly, the belief in a human being's ability to reason and to choose gained greater acceptance in a culture long devoted to the rituals of augury and prophecy. Socrates helped to create the Golden Age with his philosophical questioning, but Athens still insisted on the proprieties of tradition surrounding the gods and Fate, and the city condemned the philosopher to death for impiety. Judging from his plays, Sophocles took a conservative view on augury and prophecy; the oracles in the Oedipus Trilogy speak truly — although obliquely.
Simply enter your paper topic to get started! The Roles of Fate and Free-Will in Oedipus Rex 7 Pages 1686 Words November 2014 Saved essays Save your essays here so you can locate them quickly! Topics in this paper Popular topics In Sophocles' play, Oedipus Rex, the idea of a fated man is apparent; illustrating the consequences of free will. Adamant in their belief of free will many people live out their lives unaware that the free will which governs their lives is indeed fated. Although Oedipus' life is guided by fate it is his own free will that contributes to his poor judgment, stubbornness and blind rage and will ultimately lead to his downfall. Oedipus Rex is the story of a Theban king who is in search of the murderer or murderers of his predecessor King Laios in order to lift a plague off the city of Thebes. During his investigation Oedipus learns that he is the sought murderer of King Laius, his birth father. Not only has he killed his father but he has married and produced children with his mother, Queen Jocasta. Horrified by his actions, Oedipus blinds and banishes himself from Thebes. Both these acts were prophesied to Laios, Jocasta and Oedipus years earlier at separate times in their lives. Although the fate of prophecy caused the circumstances surrounding Oedipus' actions it is his own free will that brings about his poor judgment. Oedipus' poor judgement is highlighted at different times throughout the play. An example of poor judgment is when Oedipus decides to confront his parents, King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth, about his identity after listening to the cries of a drunken stranger claiming Polybus, Oedipus' adopted father] not to be Oedipus's father. Even Though his parents try to reassure him by calling it all the rants of a slanderous fool  (729). Oedipus in unsatisfied with their answer and decides to seek an answer from the god at.
Aristotle considered Oedipus Tyrannus the supreme example of tragic drama and modeled his theory of tragedy on it. He mentions the play no fewer than eleven times in his De poetica (c. 334-323 b.c.e.; Poetics, 1705). Sigmund Freud in the twentieth century used the story to name the rivalry of male children with their fathers for the affection of their mothers, and Jean Cocteau adapted the tale to the modern stage in La Machine infernale (1934; The Infernal Machine, 1936). However, no matter what changes the Oedipus myth underwent in two and a half millennia, the finest expression of it remains this tragedy by Sophocles. Brilliantly conceived and written, Oedipus Tyrannus is a drama of self-discovery. Sophocles achieves an amazing compression and force by limiting the dramatic action to the day on which Oedipus learns the true nature of his birth and his destiny. The fact that the audience knows the dark secret that Oedipus unwittingly slew his true father and married his mother does nothing to destroy the suspense. Oedipus’s search for the truth has all the tautness of a detective tale, and yet because audiences already know the truth they are aware of all the ironies in which Oedipus is enmeshed. That knowledge enables them to fear the final revelation at the same time that they pity the man whose past is gradually and relentlessly uncovered to him. The plot is thoroughly integrated with the characterization of Oedipus, for it is he who impels the action forward in his concern for Thebes, his personal rashness, and his ignorance of his past. His flaws are a hot temper and impulsiveness, but without those traits his heroic course of self-discovery would never occur. Fate for Sophocles is not something essentially external to human beings but something at once inherent in them and transcendent. Oracles and prophets in this play may show the will of the gods and.