Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Driven b

The Role of Fate in Oedipus Rex Before we approach this complex scruple inductively, we are at first obliged to contemplate what definitions and assumptions are world made. This essay, perhaps more so than others, requires a more extensive quality at this aspect of the question, because of the sheer variety of possible responses. However, I without delay have reduced them to troika possibilities. Firstly, we could make the assumption that perhaps as destiny controls either requisites, then Oedipus character was created long before he was conceived. On the other hand, we could also say that perhaps Oedipus horrific fate came about because of his character and fate. The final possibility is that everything is inevitable - therefore no one ever has had any say in their own fate, let alone Oedipus. In this essay I would like to discuss these three ideas, and perhaps draw a conclusion at the end on which I feel to be the most valid. The first solution to this question, as I said ea rlier, is the idea that destiny makes character. As destiny supposedly in the Greek mindset maps out all events before they occur, we raft today assume with this logic that perhaps the components that built Oedipus character were caused by fate. We know today that character is determined by biologic factors and experience. These biological factors would have been determined by how well he was fed, how well he developed, his genes etcetera. The experience would have also been determined by the pre-destined master formulate of Fate. Thus it is possible to argue that Oedipus, as components of his character and mind, was entirely wrought by fate and therefore cannot be held responsible for what he has done, as he has no control over his actions. But the premises that th... ...e dealt with in a normal way. This is theatre. It has been crafted to look as though the fall is ascribable to some error of action, strongly interlaced with fate. Yet despite all this, I do not feel that thi s is how the play has materialised. It seems to me as though Oedipus could not have stopped the actual horrific incest and patricide occurring, only the identification of it. To me, as a non-believer in fate, nothing is due to Oedipus character. He seems barely unfortunate, a victim of superstition. Yet to those of you who accept fate, then perhaps this could be the explanation. It is a completely subjective close, based on a person-to-person interpretation. This is something that I cannot decide. Thus I leave the decision open, but my decision closed. Neither is right, and neither is wrong. Works CitedSophocles. Oedipus Rex. New York Dover Publications, Inc., 1991.