Destiny, Fate, and Free Will in Oedipus the King

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Ancient Greeks developed a god for every aspect of their lives. They heavily worshiped their gods and would make sacrifices of domestic animals to these gods. These gods were immortal beings who controlled their lives and determined their destiny. This "religion" is mainly based on a body of diverse stories and legends, and contained no formal structure. Of their gods there was: Zeus the master of the gods and spiritual father of all people and gods, Athena the god of wisdom, Apollo the god of light, poetry, and music, Dionysus the god of wine and pleasure (also the most popular). Those are but a few of the gods involved in the lives of Ancient Greeks. Worship and beliefs emphasized the weakness of humans in contrast to the strong powers of nature. As is exhibited in Oedipus where he can not outrun his fate no matter what action he takes.

Oedipus was so preoccupied with avoiding his fate that he blindly was led right to it. To say that he was a "puppet" of the gods is an unjust statement because the story makes no mention of the gods taking any action towards Oedipus. If anyone, the Oracle had more influence over his life than any other force. Many decisions were based on information the Oracle gave. His fate was determined but it was his pride and ambition that served as the vessel to his final outcome. For it was not fated that he would be publicly humiliated and suffer so horribly. His arrogance and extreme ambition blinded him from the truth and set him up for such a huge fall.

He could not have avoided killing his father and marrying his mother. This is determined by the Greek philosophy that his play is based on and the obvious intentions of Sophocles when he wrote this play. If he had been more perceptive of his surroundings, and listened to the advice of his wife/mother when she told him to give up the search he could have lived happily ever after. His single-minded personality and intense emotion made him unable to avoid the suffering he endured. This personality is best exhibited when he speaks with Teresias about who the murderer is.

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