Oedipus Rex: Why Inevitable Fate Reigns over Choices

📌Category: Oedipus Rex, Plays
📌Words: 709
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 15 June 2022

Oh, what terror for the ancient Greeks! The Oracle Delphi has prophesied for an inimical fate yet again. From the sacred Mount Parnassus to the vast city-state of Thebes, primordial methods of divination and prophecy were wide-spread beliefs lionized by the Greeks of the time. Once fate is written in stone, it cannot be effaced by an individual’s choices, no matter how determined one is to escape it.

I strongly believe that once fate showed its hand, it outplayed choice’s cards in Oedipus’ ill-starred life. For instance, in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, it states “I have sent Creon, son of Menoeceus, brother of the queen, to Delphi. There at Apollo’s oracle he will learn, if he can, what I must do or promise to do to save the city.” This highlights how much people depend on oracles. This is significant because if oracles weren’t known to be accurate on their tellings, then people, including the King of Thebes, wouldn’t flock to prophets as a reliable source for advice. In addition, the play also states “Skilled then as now, and deserving his reputation.” Here Creon is speaking about Tiresias, the blind prophet, who King Oedipus seeked as an additional advisor. This confirms that Tiresias is in fact very revered for his talent, and is incapable of erring his prophecies. Lastly, it renders fate as absolute because these prophets know the divine will.

Equally important, Oedipus was destined to anathema since his very birth. Jocasta and Lauis’s attempted infanticide was ultimately futile due to the greek god’s will being irrefutable. The text says “Apollo said explicitly that Laius would die at the hands of my son.” This shows part of Oedipus’ fate, and Jocasta uses the words “Apollo” and “explicitly” which implies that Apollo’s will was intended to be immutable. Furthermore, the text also states “Ah, this was my destiny when I was born. The gods are cruel, savage in their anger. You gods, pity me. You are all powerful.” This shows Oedipus realizing the gods show no sympathy towards his situation and his fate was attached to him since nativity. On top of that, it shows that the deities have the final say since they house all the power, and no amount of choices can demur fate’s course decreed by the gods.

Above all, there is just an innumerable amount of perfectly sequenced events that happened leading up to Oedipus’ realization of his curse. Oedipus being at the same crossroads as Laius, the shepherd saving Oedipus from the hillside, Jocasta marrying Oedipus and not wanting to realize that's her son; it's all too impeccably aligned to not be divine will. Line 696 of Part I states “ Oh what a net of death the gods have been weaving for me!” This unveils the situation that Oedipus comes to realize when he acknowledges that he may have been Laius’ killer. This quote shows the power of clashing events, and how every event in Oedipus’ life was leading up to the moment where the curtain falls. Another quote in the play declares “I found you in the woods of Cithaeron. I removed the pin that bolted your feet together.” This quote displays that even though Jocasta and Laius took extreme measures, such as bolting Oedipus’ feet together and leaving him on a hill, he was still rescued because that is what divine will called for.

Some may say that Jocasta’s choices, for example, severely contributed to his demise because she could’ve put two and two together and realized he was her son. However, I believe that my position is stronger due to the fact that Jocasta most likely suspected early on that Oedipus might’ve been her son, but chose to bury her intrusive thoughts in the back of her head. I believe this is due to her feeling obliged to compensate Oedipus for saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx. Once again, this is fate at play because in this life, there is no “could've''; there is just now, and possibly the future. Divine will led Jocasta to not give in to her suspicions, and carry on with her daily life.

The gods decided, with all their wrath, to lead Oedipus’ life astray and condemn him to a life full of misery. Destiny is spun, threaded, and cut by inhabitants of Mount Olympus itself; why else would Thebes have a temple dedicated to the Three Fates? In the end, ancient Greeks heavily worshiped and celebrated Greek gods and goddesses for a reason; for it is in their power to take you, ironically in Oedipus’ case, from riches to rags.

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