Sep 29, · The Oedipus’ Fate Essay. September 29, by Essay Writer. Oedipus’ life was a series of tragedies from birth to the point of blindness. This tragedies can be assumed to stem out of the fact that Oedipus ’ was an individual with a strong character which made him want to know the truth and as a result the tragedies befall him out of free blogger.comted Reading Time: 4 mins Oedipus’ fate Essay Example Another reason showing that Oedipus did not deserve the fate he received at the end of the play is that he was always trying to avoid his fate, yet could not. For example, once Oedipus discovered that he was destined to kill his father and marry his other, he ran away from his home to try and avoid this blogger.comted Reading Time: 3 mins Ironically, then, the victim of Fate becomes part of the force that has tortured him; his will to reward and to punish becomes as powerful as the will of the gods themselves. In Oedipus at Colonus — Sophocles' last play — the dramatist seems intent on making a peace between the power of Fate and his willful, all too human hero. The chants of the chorus, as well as the formal, poetic speeches of the characters, suggest that Oedipus
The Role of Fate in Oedipus Rex Essay
Oedipus Rex was written by Sophocles as a tragedy highlighting the inevitability of fate in the lives of human beings. The finality of fate underlies in the entire theme of the play. It is the myth par excellence of self-knowledge, of human power and human weakness, oedipus fate essay, of the determining forces of the accidents of birth that we can neither change nor escape.
At that time, the Greek social system operated not only under an advanced system of government and laws, but also through a rigid system of religion that endeavored to make man accountable for his actions. Thus, society as a whole adhered strongly to the fundamental religious precepts, and the concept of Fate, or predestination, occupied a central place in the belief-system of the Greeks.
It was believed that human life was a series of events predetermined in their fate, which was ordained by the oedipus fate essay and whims of the gods, oedipus fate essay, and could not be averted. However, some humans, by virtue of insight and good character, were in theory able to tap into divine knowledge through inspiration or prophecy. Thus, oedipus fate essay, fate made itself known through prophecy. The prophet supposedly had a spiritual link with the deities, and was considered to be a medium through which the gods communicated their will to humans.
The most supreme god, Apollo, son of Zeus, oedipus fate essay, was also believed to be the god of prophecy, oedipus fate essay. To him, many temples had been erected, some especially for the purpose of oedipus fate essay. One such place was the Oracle of Oedipus fate essay, which housed a oedipus fate essay known as the Pythia who could foretell the future. In Oedipus Rex, the reader finds repeated allusions to the concept of fate manifesting itself through prophecy.
The whole plot is woven around this idea. In the storyline, prophecy holds a key significance — without it, the misfortunes that befall Oedipus could be wrongly interpreted as the outcomes of free will or decision. It is oedipus fate essay prophecy that tells both the reader and the protagonist that every subsequent action Oedipus performs is fulfilling a chain of events already predetermined for him.
In the play, characters that act as a medium for fate are the Oracle of Delphi and the blind prophet, Teiresias. In the tragedy, Sophocles makes some strong assertions about the role of fate: Firstly, oedipus fate essay, man cannot escape the fate decided for him.
Even if he tries oedipus fate essay use oedipus fate essay good judgment to out-maneuver it, he cannot prevail. The futility of human planning against fate is highlighted in Laius. King Laius had known the prophecy that a son would be born to him, who would one day kill him and marry his wife.
To prevent his fate, he ordered for Oedipus to be left alone to perish on Mount Cithaeron. But Oedipus was saved by divine intervention, and did indeed survive to finally kill his father. The worthlessness of human planning can also be seen in Oedipus — when he found out about the prophecy, he left his supposed parents so that he would not kill one and wed the other.
But this very act brought him right into contact with his real parents and enabled him to unwittingly act out the prophecy. Secondly, the misfortunes brought on by fate can be a punishment for the sins of forefathers. A person may not have deserved ill-fate through his own vice, but the greater system of justice required that he should suffer for the wrongs of his predecessors. These two sins accounted for the misfortune that beset Laius and his son Oedipus, oedipus fate essay.
In other words, it is the rash and imprudent behavior of a person that hastens a dreadful end. Had Oedipus been careful enough to heed the prophecy, he would have hesitated to kill a man as old as his father, or marry a woman as old as his mother. But arrogance and impulsive action in the first instance, and the desire to assume kingship and renown in the second, drove him towards his destiny. As a fourth argument, man often commits a sin which he considers minor and which he believes he can hide.
In the tragedy, Oedipus had killed an old man he encountered on a narrow crossroads, and thought of it as a minor incident. Yet the sin could not remain hidden — it came face to face with Oedipus later in life and made him pay dearly for it.
Furthermore, the play suggests that arrogance before the gods and disbelief in prophecies is a punishable sin. In Oedipus Rex, oedipus fate essay, Queen Jocasta, the mother of Oedipus, is seen as a character who repeatedly doubts the prophecies of the Oracle of Delphi as well as those oedipus fate essay Teiresias. Oedipus is also a character who shows disrespect to the blind prophet Teiresias and abuses him verbally. Had the Oracle of Delphi told him clearly that Polybus and Merope were not his real parents, Oedipus might have suspected that the woman he was marrying could be his real mother.
By keeping him in the dark about his parentage, the gods oedipus fate essay him in a state of confusion which ultimately ensured that the prophecy would be carried out, oedipus fate essay.
Thus, while fate was certain, prophecies could be cryptic and intentionally misleading. Rather than truth, prophecies were agents of fate — they caused the inquirer to execute his exact fate.
For these reasons, Oedipus comes across as a child of destiny, a person condemned to a freakish fate. Nor any other suffering can kill me — For I would never have been saved from death Unless I was to suffer a strange destiny. fate oedipus role.
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Oedipus Rex by Sophocles - Themes
, time: 3:36Oedipus Rex Essay Example: Blinded by Fate
Ironically, then, the victim of Fate becomes part of the force that has tortured him; his will to reward and to punish becomes as powerful as the will of the gods themselves. In Oedipus at Colonus — Sophocles' last play — the dramatist seems intent on making a peace between the power of Fate and his willful, all too human hero. The chants of the chorus, as well as the formal, poetic speeches of the characters, suggest that Oedipus Sep 29, · The Oedipus’ Fate Essay. September 29, by Essay Writer. Oedipus’ life was a series of tragedies from birth to the point of blindness. This tragedies can be assumed to stem out of the fact that Oedipus ’ was an individual with a strong character which made him want to know the truth and as a result the tragedies befall him out of free blogger.comted Reading Time: 4 mins Oedipus’ fate Essay Example Another reason showing that Oedipus did not deserve the fate he received at the end of the play is that he was always trying to avoid his fate, yet could not. For example, once Oedipus discovered that he was destined to kill his father and marry his other, he ran away from his home to try and avoid this blogger.comted Reading Time: 3 mins
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