In Oedipus the King, Iocasta says that Laius was slain at a place where three roads meet. This crossroads is referred to a number of times during the play, and it symbolizes the crucial moment, long before the events of the play, when Oedipus began to fulfill the dreadful prophecy that he would murder his father and marry his mother. A crossroads is a place where a choice has to be made, so crossroads usually symbolize moments where decision will have important consequences but where different choices are still possible. In Oedipus the king, the crossroads is part of the distant past, dimly remembered, and Oedipus was not aware at the time that he was making a fateful decision (Murray 59). In this play, the crossroads symbolize fate and the awesome power of prophecy r

The real question to people who believe in fate is that what is the point of living a life when somebody already as set it down for them and they are just playing out a story? How are people supposed to live their life always thinking that what they just did was suppose to happen and that they did not cause it by their own free will? Fate and freewill are mysteries of life that may never be solved. These are very important aspects to ancient Greek Tragedies. Without these conventions in Greek Tragedies there would be no suspense or action to build up to the climax (Muller). These same reasons apply to fate and freewill in life. Without these two aspects to bring people challenges and obstacles, what would be the reason for living life? All of these factors lead to the reason why, for many years to come, people will always wonder whether they control there lives or if they are just living an already told story.

lf. "Tis a just zeal for the cause of that slain man. And right it is in me that ye shall see me fighting that cause for Phoebus and for Thebes” (Sophocles). In order for Sophocles' play to be categorized as tragic, the tragic hero had to have some sort of a flaw. The hero’s tragic flaws are the qualities, which ultimately lead to his downfall. Oedipus’s pride, ignorance, insolence towards the gods, and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. When Teiresias told Oedipus that he was responsible for the murder of Laius, he became enraged and calls the old oracle a liar. He ran away from his home in Corinth, in hopes of outsmarting the gods divine will. Like his father, Oedipus also sought ways to escape the horrible destiny told by the oracle of Apollo. The chorus warns us of man's need to have reverence for the gods, and the dangers of too much pride. "But if a man tread the ways of arrogance; fear not justice, honou

Some topics in this essay:
Sophocles Sophocles', Iocasta Laius, Thebes Oedipus, Oedipus King, Sophocles Oedipus, Laius Iocasta, Iocasta Oedipus, Greek Tragedies, Apollo Delphi, King Laius, oedipus king, own free fate, marry mother, fate freewill, murder father, living life, fate oedipus, thebes oedipus, free fate, towards gods, oracle apollo,