Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Fate's Triumph

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The Power of Fate in Oedipus Rex

Oedipus, the fated tragic hero of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, is a complex character who, through slow realization, learns that one cannot escape fate. Throughout the course of the tragedy, Oedipus’s attitude evolves from arrogance to humbleness as he learns to seek for truth and finds that fate is impossible to control.

In the beginning of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is a strong, noble king in search of justice for the slain former King Laios. Oedipus is both arrogant and ignorant of his future misfortune. “With the help of God, we shall be saved,”...

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... full of rage, curiosity, impatience, ignorance, denial, and finally, remorse. His persisting denial to accept the enormous coincidences that are made known to him and his complete ignorance towards these facts lead Oedipus to his tragic downfall from a noble king to a blind, humbled, man.

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