Oedipus King: an artificial fate
...evitable; therefore no one ever has had any possibility to change the direction of his own fate. That is to assure that Oedipus did not have any possibility to modify his fate, no matter the course of his actions. Was fate the force that molded Oedipus’ life? The fate, according to the Greek culture, mindsets and plans every event in a man’s life before they happen. Perhaps fate set all the components that “created” Oedipus’ character and led to his terrible fall. Following this line of thoughts Oedipus’ life experiences were determined by a master plan of fate. Hence he was not free to take his own decisions. Therefore if all was set and molded by his fate, Oedipus is not responsible for his actions and thoughts because it was his fate who controlled his life. However, Oedipus could have done some actions in his past to change the course of the events. When Oedipus meets with King Laios, his father, where the three roads converged, he could have chosen to move away and not to answer to the King Laios’ provocation. Nevertheless Oedipus reacts aggressively, and kills his father to fulfill the prophecy that has foreseen his fate. Even if he had changed the course of his actions and the outcome resulted to be different, his fate could have returned later and confronting him in different ways with his father; eventually killing King Laios. Then Oedipus meets the sphinx at Thebes, he could have fled, but instead his personality gives him courage to her riddle. Hence he becomes King of Thebes, marries the widowing Queen Iocaste, and sets his path to incest. However, if he had acted differently, the fate will create another different course of events that will eventually trap him to follow the tragic prophecy. In the play it is evident that even Oedipus had been warned through prophecies and visions he was blind to see these warnings. For instance, when Teiresias, the blind Apollo prophet, refuse to tell Oedipus what are his visions, Teiresias argues that his tragic face will be unavoidable, no matter what Oedipus tries to do. “Now it is my misery; then, it would be yours.” (17) “Whether I speak or not, it is bound to come” (18). In order to understand better the play Oedipus King it is needful to know more about its context. Oedipus King by Sophocles is a play constructed along the lines of Aristotle's philosophic theory of tragedy. Aristotle stated that the extravagant representation of powerful emotions gives a benefit to men by providing an opportunity for the cathartic release of unhealthy feelings rather than encouraging their development. Indeed tragedy should evoke pity and fear and should result in catharsis, the release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores and refreshes the spirit, of those emotions. According to Aristotle the archetype of a tragedy should be based on Sophocles's Oedipus King. For this reason structure of Oedipus King to is structured to convey the sentiment that fate was the overriding factor for Oedipus’ tragic ending. On the whole Oedipus King reveal the aphorism that everybody is controlled by fate. Consequently everyth...