Oedipus the King by Sophocles

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of a man who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods decided what would ultimately happen to each and every person.Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concept of fate and free will played an important part in Oedipus' destruction. Although he was a victim of fate, he was not controlled by it. Oedipus was destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father. Since those gods destined Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus' life was definitely fated; however, the gods only decided where Oedipus' life would eventually lead, but they never planned the route he would take to get there. All the decisions that Oedipus made was completely up to him in order to fulfill his destiny, and the decisions he made after he was told his destiny Even though fate seems to determine Oedipus' life he does have a free will.

As the play opens, the citizens of Thebes beg their king, Oedipus, to take away the plague that threatens to destroy the city. Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn what to do.On his return, Creon announces that the oracle instructs the city to find the murderer of Laius, the king who ruled Thebes before Oedipus. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end the plague. At once, Oedipus sets about to solve the murder.Tiresias, the blind prophet refuses to speak, but finally accuses Oedipus himself of killing Laius. Oedipus orders him to leave, but before he leaves, Tiresias hints of an incestuous marriage, future of blindness, infamy, and wandering. Oedipus then attempts to gain advice from Jocasta. She told him to ignore prophecies because a prophet once told her that Laius, her husband, would be killed by her son. According to Jocasta, the prophecy did not come true because the baby died, and Laius himself was killed by a band of robbers.Oedipus becomes distressed by Jocasta's answers because just before he came to Thebes he killed a man who resembled Laius. To learn the truth, Oedipus sends for the only living witness to the murder, a shepherd. Another worry haunts Oedipus as a young man, he learned from an oracle that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. When Oedipus heard the prophecy that he is going to kill his father and sleep with his mother he ran away, even when he knew there were suspicions of him being the real son of his parents. "...There was a man dining with us one day who had too much wine and man shouted at me-half drunk and shouting that I was not rightly called my father's son. ... Without my parent's knowledge, I went to Delphi, but Apollo did not say what I had gone to hear. Instead, he answered questions I had not asked and told of horror and misery beyond believe - how I would know my mothers bad ... and cause the death of my own father." The prophecy drove Oedipus away from Corinth.The prophecy was bound to happen, no matter what he may have done to avoid it, but his actions that he did before were determined by fate. His choices brought the prophecy to life. When he learned of Apollo's word, he could have calmly investigated the murder of the former King Laius, but in his hastiness, he passionately curses the murderer, and in so, unknowingly curses himself. "Upon the murderer I invoke this curse- whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many- may he wear out his life in misery or doom! If with my knowledge he lives at my hearth, I pray that I myself may feel my curse." His pride, ingnorance, insolence and disbelief in the gods, and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction.

Throughout most of the play, Oedipus exercises his free will by choosing not to believe that he is the cause of his city's problems. This is not the end of free will in the story, it is only the beginning. Oedipus and Jocasta's reactions to finding out the truth are also examples of choice in Oedipus, not only because of the extreme decisions being made, but also because of the complete absence of fate from this part of the story.When the truth is revealed, Jocasta is the first to react; she hangs herself in the bedroom. Later, her husband/son finds her, takes