Blog #6

                                       Was it Destined or free will?

     In the play ‘Oedipus the King’ we see how a prophecy comes true, but was it destined? I believe it was the power of free will that led to Oedipus’s tragic ending. It all starts even before Oedipus is born where his Father King Laius of a town called Thebes goes to the Oracle for a prophecy on his son and how great he will be. It turns out the prophet says he will have a son that kills him and marry his mother. Trying to avoid the prophecy they send the new born to be killed but that never happened and Oedipus grows up thinking he is son of a king and queen of Corinth.

     Oedipus is told he isn't the son of the king and queen and can’t bear to think if it true or not so he goes to the oracle to find out. Instead he is told that he will kill his father and marry his mother and father his brothers and sisters, so what does Oedipus do he leaves Corinth to avoid the prophecy from coming true (It shows In lines 955-959 that he says “When I heard that, I ran away from Corinth… so I would never see that prophecy fulfilled, the abomination of my evil fate”).  So as Oedipus is on his way to make a new living towards Thebes he encounters a elder man which is Laius in his way and both thinking their superior want the other to move. Now here we go again Oedipus even after the prophecy he just heard becomes irate and kills the man which was his actual father. Oedipus could have avoided this by not killing anyone especially an elder man that can possibly be your father.

     On his arrival to Thebes there is a sphinx that was sent by the gods to punish Thebes for Laius misdeeds. Oedipus solves the riddle asked by the sphinx thus ending it reign of terror on Thebes. Oedipus is the savior and his proclaimed to be the new king and marry the widowed queen since the former King Laius was found dead thought to be murdered by robbers.

     Then comes Teiresias a blind prophet that tells Oedipus the same prophecy he heard before (lines 550-559 “he will be blind, although he can see, he will be poor, although he is now rich… He sowed the same womb as his father and murdered him”).  After that Oedipus still didn't realize exactly what Teiresias was talking about messengers come forth and tell Oedipus the truth and who he really is. The prophecy all came true.  One messenger says to Oedipus in line 1469-1471 “And soon will bring to light the vilest things, brought on by choice and not by accident. What we do to ourselves brings us most pain.”

     Yes you could say there were things that pushed Oedipus to his prophecy but if Oedipus would've stopped thought about a few things before he did them he could of changed everything. If he spoke to his adoptive parents they would have probably told him and things could of ended differently. Also when he came in contact with his actual father on the road, instead of killing him he could of just  let him pass or just gave him a good beating but he took things to the next level and his actions led to his already horrible predicted future.