Fate In Sophocles 'Oedipus The King'

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Fate is the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. In the novel “Oedipus the King” written by Sophocles, Oedipus, the son of Laius and Jocaste, attempted to not fulfill his prophecy of killing his father and sleeping with his mother, This was caused by fate because by trying to avoid his prophecy, it made it easier for himself to accomplish it. Also, when Oedipus murdered Laius, he was not aware that he had killed his own father, committing half of his prophecy. Lastly, after killing the king of Thebes, Oedipus stepped in and became King of Thebes and married the former wife of Laius, Jocaste without having any idea that she was his mother.

Oedipus originally thought his two parents were Polybus and Merope which were the king and queen of Corinth. When Oedipus was …show more content…
He then married the queen Jocaste which left him in shock to realize that he had fulfilled his prophecy that he had been trying immensely to avoid.

It has been argued that the play “Oedipus the King” written by Sophocles, was caused by free will. This claim would be logical if Oedipus was aware and conscious of the decisions he made to move to Thebes and kill the king and marry the queen of Thebes which were coincidentally the parents of Oedipus, but he was not. Oedipus could not have controlled his destiny which would make it impossible for the play to be caused by free will.

All in all, the play of Oedipus was controlled by fate but he could have been less curious in the end and he should have listened to Jocaste which would have prevented the death of himself and his wife. It was fate that Oedipus moved to Thebes, killed the king and slept with the queen of Thebes which led him and his parents to their

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