Oedipus The King Is A Good Example Of Fate - 964 Words

Some believe that their lives and the events that take place within it are left up to fate, while others strive to make their own destinies. Fate is defined as events that develop in a manner that is out of one’s own control. Events that some believe would have occurred regardless of ones efforts. While free will is defined as the power to shape one’s own future through ones actions. The complete disregard of fate and supposed predetermined events. The tale of Sophocles, Oedipus The King is a good example of fate in action. Oedipus’s misfortune followed him relentlessly wherever he went, regardless of his choices. While the tale of Hamlet shows Hamlet making conscious decisions that effected his life in powerful ways that could have been avoided had he made other decisions. Oedipus’s tragic misfortune was pre-determined in a prophecy. As de Boer states, the first oracle of Phoebus prophesized that Oedipus â€Å"[†¦] was doomed to kill his father and marry his mother--hence his expulsion from Thebes as a newborn baby† (de Boer). Oedipus unknowingly murders his real father. â€Å"Fleeing his foster parents in order to prevent that from happening, he unknowingly meets his real father on the road and kills him† (de Boer). Even as he makes an attempt to put distance between himself and his thought to be father, by travelling to Thebes so, should the prophecy come true he could avoid murder him. Still he arrived in his true father’s country and murders him without knowing. Making his effortsShow MoreRelatedOedipus, an Ironic Tragic Hero1034 Words   |  5 PagesOedipus, an Ironic Tragic Hero Much of the tragedy of the play comes from the irony involved in fate Oedipus’s life. 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