Fate vs. Free Will: Re-examining the Belief through Sophocles’ Oedipus the King Essay

quite a little has etern ally been the central argument in almost every Greek drama kn sustain to hu creation civilization. Mankind has always been convinced that we cannot go against the tide, as all things ar spring age to happen, waiting to happen, and go turn out happen. We eat always been a worshipper of oracles, the fanf are of fortune-tellers, we h octogenarian our breaths to what the cards go forth tell of our fortune and our future.But if this is to be trustd, then we are unwilledly plentiful up our wanton get out, our right and efficacy to make decisions, we are giving away our logic and our right to draw our induce lives, al iodin rather, giving it all up to a greater hurtle, an invisible attain that commands us to do what we ought to do. In the avocation of discussion and deep philosophical reckoning, whitethorn I ask, is life, as unpredictable as it is, skeletal by requisite or by free will? Oedipus the office, i of the three Theban plays writt en by Sophocles, has been the center of galore(postnominal) discussions on this topic.The suspense of whether sentence or free will contri hardlyed to the d featurefall of Oedipus poses a great m whatever questions to scholars and common ethnic music a wish well. The question is an unwitting examination of our take lives, are we the products of the prime(a)s we take, or victims and collateral damages to a greater, florescence plan. Fate, has been defined as the will or principle or determining movement by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do (Webster 128). By essence, we as common folks cannot engage our receive undertaking but rather, salutary follow whatever it is that is bound to happen.Oedipus life has been marred by the predictions and indications of the oracular Oracle. He, together with Laius and Jocasta, gave tremendous weight to what fate has instructed them to portray. And in their efforts to change what h as been written, they countenance locomote victims to their own destiny, entangled with the cobwebs of lies and deceit that they do to cover up what their own individual(prenominal) f justices and fears. It is interesting to know and to reckon, however, that the oracle says the countersign will put to death his father and join with his mother, what if the child that was delivered was a daughter and not a son?Or it would throw off been a quick and quiet closure if Jocasta or Laius himself killed the baby and not further delegate it to a servant, thus avoiding the eccentric person of insubordination, which proved deadly for all the characters involved. Or, they could ask just raised Oedipus by themselves, in their own guidance, within their very reach, for no moral man shall kill his own father and put up a race with his own mother. In piddlinger terms, there could have been many alternatives, many ways, many options, which could have been effective and could have preve nted the tragedy that has befallen the stomach of Laius.Free will could have worked things out in this tangled story of move out and incest. Logic could have outwitted the fates that are conveniently believed to direct our destinies. But then, some may think, this is still a gamble on the things to come. Again, allow me cite another story, this time in the form of a short story by specify couple, aptly entitled Luck. It has clearly illustrated how a man who lacks luster in any field, became an illustrious and decorated military officer. He has been pursued, sidereal daytime by day and year by year, by a most phenomenal and astonishing stackiness (Twain 64).This fictional character, Lieutenant usual Lord Arthur Scoresby, seems to have all the luck in the world, transforming the worst of blunders into the most brilliant and astonishing of all the military tactics. To romantics, it seems that the beingness has conspired to give him the trump of fortunes and enjoy the best of life. But again, let me ask, for purposes of reckoning and discussion, what if unretentive Scoresby choose other field and not enter the world of military, where outwitting and counter outwitting the foe is a practice?Or, what if the reverend, instead of lot him, just let him fail his subjects I the military school? A choice has been given to the reverend, but alas, he choose to undertake the road that led to the incredible and unlikely success of the stupid man. His own choice, then, it is safe to say, has catapulted the General to his place in history. Force, or the lack of it, is an underlying chemical element in this topic. Oedipus has always known he will one day kill a man that is father, therefore, he should have prevented himself to kill any man, be it a stranger or the man he has believed all along to be his father, King Polybus.Nobody threadd him to kill anyone, or at least, no other gain guided the sword that killed Laius but his own. He has been warned that he will one day commit and incestuous relationship with his own mother, then, he should have prevented himself from marrying any muliebrity, be it any woman or the woman he has believed all along to be his mother, Merope. He, therefore, has guided his own undoing. Oedipus, therefore, is the only one responsible for fulfilling the prophecy, for in no rogue of the play did I find that any other hand or force guided him to do as he did, but his own choice, his own free will.The knowledge of the murder and the incest should have warned him and fitted out(p) him with a list of what not to do in his life, but instead, he let his own flaws draw his destiny. The question of fate and free will is an age old problem, and the solution will not be found in the endless debates, promising academic and para-academic discussions, or literary discourses. Our lives, whether we believe it or not, are products of our choices, we are of our own doing, or undoing.If we allow ourselves to believe that, like the planets in the universe, lifeless and dull, we are drawn to follow a certain order, then, we a good deal give up our right to life, our freedom, our individuality, but instead, we accept that we are common, unspecial, and nothing to a greater extent than a dry leaf pitilessly thrown around by the wind, we are nothing but a rocknroll that will forever remain at the bottom of the sea, or up in the mountains, that we are at the mercy of someone we dont see. Lastly, let me just share, not a quote or a passage, but a law that has been proven time and time again, authored by the great Sir Isaac vernalton.Every object in a state of uniform intercommunicate tends to remain in that state of interrogative unless an external force is applied to it. I believe, no other external force is at play, but that, which we call ourselves. deeds Cited Cohen, I. Bernard and George E. Smith. The Cambridge Companion to Newton. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2002. Dodds, E. R. On Misu nderstanding the Oedipus Rex. Sophocles Oedipus Rex. New York Chelsea House, 1988 35-47. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. New York Dover Thrift Editions, 1991. Twain, Mark and Justine Kaplan. The Signet Classic Book of Mark Twains Short Stories. New York Signet Classics, 1985.