At the end of this tragic story, when Oedipus gouges out his eyes, the events in Oedipus the King show an underlying relationship of man's free will existing within the cosmic order of fate that the Greeks believed guided the universe. Man was free to choose his actions but !.
was ultimately destined to end in the same spot. .
The concepts of fate and free will played an integral part in Oedipus' destruction. Ignorance of a protagonist can lead to a fall due to a mistake done by his own free will. Fate causes the fall of a protagonist without their consent or their control (Murray 61). Oedipus was destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father. This prophecy, as warned by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what he may have done to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate and his adventures in Thebes were controlled by fate. From the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. He could have endured the plague, but out of compassion for his suffering people, he had Creon go to Delphi. When he learned of Apollo's word, he could have calmly investigated the murder of the former King Laius, but in his hastiness, he condemns the murderer, and in so, unknowingly curses himse!.
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.
