Fate and The Circunstancial Downfall of Character in Oedipus Rex

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Recommended: Modern And Greek Theatre Differences And Similarity

Circumstantial Downfall

Fate and the circumstantial downfall of characters (usually surrounding the protagonist) is a reoccurring theme seen throughout the Eras of theatre (specifically between the plays Oedipus Rex [Greek Theatre] and King Lear [Elizabethan Thatre.]) Fate and falling victim to circumstance is one of the same; fate is just a predetermination made by a higher being (gods,) while circumstance is almost always the result of causation; contrary to the psychological phrase correlation does not imply causation which means that a relation between two variables does not imply that one is the cause of the other. For those who lived during the Greek Theatre Era (600-200 BC,) the explanation of “fate” was considered an acceptable means to justify the unknown, and/or to gain information/knowledge. Audiences eventually became more literate and the reliance on the gods to help make sense of why something has happened slowly diminished; this cultural reformation demanded the same change to occurr within the theatre, which correlated fate with falling victim to circumstance. In th...

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