In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is responsible for the tragedy of his downfall. Fate and free will are two opposing ideas that Sophocles seems to blend together and brings up an interesting argument. Sophocles ultimately leaves it up to the reader of the play to view and decide the truth though. Oedipus is presented with a series of choices throughout the play, his stubborn nature and arrogance push him to act without thinking and ultimately make the wrong decisions, the decisions that end up leading him to his downfall. While Oedipus and those around him consider fate the source of Oedipus’s problems, Oedipus' decisions show the audience that he is responsible for each and every outcome involving him in the end all the way back to when he first left his adopted parents. Sophocles is able to drive his message about the weakness behind human arrogance through Oedipus' fatal flaws and the use of metaphorical and literal blindness.Perhaps the most obvious reason Oedipus is responsible is that by the end of the play Oedipus has taken responsibility for his actions and blinds himsel...
The Open Boat, by Steven Crane, demonstrates fate vs. free will. In this story the characters are subject to contemplating how their fate is being determined, however free will cannot be dismissed as a contributor to their situation. The fine line between fate and free will, if it exists, is hard to define.
Being human we have the ability to make moral choices and that we are responsible for those choices. One thing that Oedipus did not know is that he was adopted and he thought he could outrun the will of the God’s. Though Oedipus is brought down by his own flaws, fate plays a role in his demise, especially in Ancient Greek mythology and literature. Oedipus tries really hard to outwit fate, but in the end fate always wins, with his flaw which is his pride in thinking that outrunning fate is possible he plays right into the God’s will. Therefore, tragedies of fate usually focus on a moral message about not trying to outrun
Man controls his fate by the choices that he makes. In being able to chose what his own actions are, fate is a result of his decisions. In Oedipus the King, the Greek writer, Sophocles, uses characterization and dramatic irony to project a theme throughout the play providing the idea that man is responsible for his own fate.
The French Revolution was a time when many people sacrificed their lives for their beliefs. As the French Revolution moved on, more people joined the movement and risked their lives. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is set during this time. Many people who sacrificed their lives for the Revolution felt like it was their fate to do this. This idea of fate is described many times in Dickens’ novel to magnify the story. The theme of fate is prevalent in the novel through the lives of many characters. This theme is used to show how a person is unable to escape their fate because it is already decided. The metaphors and symbols in the novel are greatly used to contribute to the theme of fate through the symbols of knitting, the fountain and water, and the wine.
In Sophocles ' Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus ' downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King.
“Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.” In other words, the connotation of this anonymous quote states that despite whatever one chooses to decide, the outcome of their choices and decisions will still result to their predetermined fate. Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus the King, demonstrates this statement throughout the play in the role of his tragic hero Oedipus. In the course of Oedipus’ actions of trying to escape his predestined fortune, his fate and flaws of being human played major roles to bring about his downfall.
Free will ultimately brought about the death of Romeo and Juliet. Obviously Juliet and Romeo’s ending was predetermined for them because it is after all a play. Which in some ways invalidates the debate of whether or not they had free will. However with a willing suspension of reality we can analyze the events that take place had this been a real situation. The events leading up to Romeo and Juliet’s untimely death are at best circumstantial, and each one is individually preventable. Some of the events could be considered fate on the premise of a chain reaction, however for my purposes I will say that had they not made the choice that had started the chain reaction it would not have happened. Therefore, it is still based upon free will.
As predicted from the Oracle, Oedipus fate will be to kill his own father and marry his mother, he discovers that he has already fulfilled his fate by his insistent in knowing the truth. Oedipus is given a series of choice in discovering his identity or leaving it to up to fate throughout the play. His egotistical and persistent nature lead him to thoughtlessly make the incorrect decisions, consequently, it is Oedipus’s burden that the tragedy is revealed, not the responsibility of fate. In the mean well Oedipus and those close to him consider “fate” the main reason of Oedipus downfall. To the audience it shows something totally different, Oedipus is ultimately responsible for his tragedy. Possibly the most evident reason Oedipus is accountable is that by the end of the play Oedipus has taken responsibility for his actions. Oedipus states, "Now loathed by the gods, son of the mother I defiled coupling in my fathers bed, spawning lives in the loins that spawned my wretched life. What grief can crown this grief? It's mine alone, my destiny-I am Oedipus!" (Sophocles 1492). Oedipus obviously sta...
In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles most popular plays, Sophocles depicts that fate will control the journey of a man’s life through free will. In today’s society, people let their life’s to be controlled by certain believes they strongly abide. Throughout Oedipus the King, the concepts of fate versus free will plays a crucial role in Oedipus’s life. Oedipus personality causes him misfortunes through his downfall by continuously denying accepting his own fate, as his temper took a major tool on him, and the rational choices he made.
Fate plays a large role in the lives of the Greeks. Fate was believed to determine people’s future, over which they had no control. In the play, Oedipus’s destiny was to be the one to kill his father, and to marry his own mother. Because Oedipus’s fate was predetermined, he had no way of controlling his actions, or the outcome of his actions, throughout the play. Oedipus’s ignorance towards the identity of his real parents lead him to perpetrate the crimes he committed. Fate and ignorance hold responsibility for the acts of crime Oedipus executed, making him innocent.
A newborn baby lies housed in an artificial womb; tubes invade the small fragile body like over grown weeds. The parents weep openly as they watch their precious child lie motionless as it fights for every breath. The tiny machines beep loudly around them as they carefully survey the room counting all the other synthetic wombs that house small bodies. A nurse over hears the desperate parents sorrow as they search for answer to why their child has to suffer." Is it pre-determined fate" the father says, " that our child is destined to die?" The mother stares blankly at her husband; she can see his lips move but cannot comprehend what he is saying, her mind is focused on what she must have done wrong. " How can this be part of our pre- determined fate?" She says as the words of her husband begin to sink in. Both parents set quietly holding hands as they watch their child take its last breath. I ask, was the fate of this baby pre-determined or was it the fate of the parents that were pre-determined.
Is there someone or something that always controls our decisions or do we have the power to choose our own destiny? For many ages, there have been debates by philosophers, scientists, and neuroscientists on the complicated issue of fate and freewill. I believe that fate and freewill coexist with each other and that every person is destined to succeed, but it is their freewill that either makes them succeed or unsuccessful. Fate is an unseen power that does control the major decisions of one’s life reminding one that everything in life happens for the better.
There are many philosophical debates over countless amounts of things. One of the big debates is over the question: Do humans perform actions via free will or is every action performed part of a bigger picture? Are human beings all victims of what is known as fate? Which side is correct is up for debate obviously. Both sides of this never ending debate provide excellent arguments on whether or not humans are free to choose their own actions, but in this Super-Bowl of all debates, only one team can come out on top. Yes, human beings act on free, but this does not mean that fate is inexistent. It merely means that fate plays a much smaller part and is not quite what people interpret it as. Many believe everything that happens to a person is already predetermined by a higher power, but the validity of their stance depends on the actual existence of a higher power, a "creator" of everybody's fates. The attempt to prove this existence has taken thousands of years without prevail, and has showed no true signs of improvement. The stance that I take is on the side which argues in the favor of free will, and I will not budge unless the opposing side can prove to the world that this "creator" exists.
One of the main themes in Oedipus the King written by Sophocles is the debate between free will and fate. There are many free choices that were made in the play, such as the decision for Oedipus to pursue the knowledge of his own identity. However, fate is responsible for many of the other critical events that took place in the play, such as Oedipus’s incest. Fate is made to seem very important in this play because it is written to seem that the characters cannot be held fully responsible for their actions due to fate.
The balance stricken between fate and free will, in Sophocles’ mind, is portrayed through Oedipus’ fatal flaw, which forces him to his fate, while also defining his free will. His hamartia is visible from the beginning of the play when Oedipus says to his people, “Tell me, and never doubt that I will help you” (Sophocles Prologue. 13). Clearly, he views himself as having a supreme ability to take matters into his own hands and aid the people whom he governs. This extreme desire to aid his people, which is undoubtedly an admirable quality, is coupled with an extreme desire to find answers. This thirst for knowledge is also shown at the beginning of the play through Oedipus’ interactions with Creon, where Oedipus badgers Creon with questions regarding the prophecy, asking “Murder of whom? Surely the god has named him?” (Prologue. 106). These two seemingly noble characteristics, the desire to help his people and the desire to know the truth, end up working against Oedipus, and results in the tragedy of the play. The role of fate in this beginning scene is clearly seen through the prophecy, but at this point in the plot, it is unclear ...