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Oedipus Rex and Free Will

 

            Throughout the play "Oedipus Rex," the playwright Sophocles, show's an underlying relationship between fate and free will. Both theories are intrinsic in Oedipus's destruction which has already been foretold. Sophocles uses the image of a crossroad as a primal symbol to show that man is free to choose and is ultimately held responsible for their own actions. Oedipus allowed the prophecy to a certain degree, to influence his conduct. He was destined from birth to marry his mother and kill his father. However, Oedipus's self-determining search for the truth is the sole reason the prophecy was fulfilled.
             From the start of this tragedy, Oedipus made many decisions which consequently led to his demise. Sophocles characterizes Oedipus the king as a loyal and honorable man who like many individuals also contain an excessive amount of pride. That specific flaw affected Oedipus's decision making process. He could have waited for the plague to end, but out of empathy for his people he sent Creon to search for a solution. Even when he heard Apollo's message Oedipus decided hastily to curse the murderer. In doing so he unintentionally curses himself. "Now my curse on the murderer. Whoever he is, a lone man unknown in his crime or one among many, let that man drag out his life in agony, step by painful step- I curse myself as well " (Line 280-284). Oedipus's hubris and intransigent quest for the truth sequentially contributed to his downfall. "How terrible to seek the truth when the truth is only pain to him who sees! "(P.g. 176). Upon hearing this from Tiresias, Oedipus inadvertently lets his emotions control him by suddenly accusing Tiresias of the crime. It is not until the blind prophet Tiresias says, "Creon is not your downfall, no you are your own," " (pg.181; line 432) that Oedipus's decisions will affect the rate in which the prophecy comes to light. .
             Despite Oedipus's determined search for the truth, he knowingly ignored the warnings given to him by other characters in the play.


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