Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King by Sophocles is the story of a man who was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods decided what would ultimately happen to each and every person.Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concept of fate and free will played an important part in Oedipus' destruction. Although he was a victim of fate, he was not controlled by it. Oedipus was destined from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father. Since those gods destined Oedipus to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus’ life was definitely fated; however, the gods only decided where Oedipus’ life would eventually lead, but they never planned the route he would take to get there. All the decisions that Oedipus made was completely up to him in order to fulfill his destiny, and the decisions he made after he was told his destiny Even though fate seems to determine Oedipus' life he does have a free will.

As the play opens, the citizens of Thebes beg their king, Oedipus, to take away the plague that threatens to destroy the city. Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle at Delphi to learn what to do.On his return, Creon announces that the oracle instructs the city to find the murderer of Laius, the king who ruled Thebes before Oedipus. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end the plague. At once, Oedipus sets about to solve the murder.Tiresias, the blind prophet refuses to speak, but finally accuses Oedipus himself of killing Laius. Oedipus orders him to leave, but before he leaves, Tiresias hints of an incestuous marriage, future of blindness, infamy, and wandering. Oedipus then attempts to gain advice from Jocasta. She told him to ignore prophecies because a prophet once told her that Laius, her husband, would be killed by her son. According to Jocasta, the prophecy did not come true because the baby died, and Laius himself was killed by a band of robbers.Oedipus becomes distressed by Jocasta’s answers because just before he came to Thebes he killed a man who resembled Laius. To learn the truth, Oedipus sends for the only living witness to the murder, a shepherd. Another worry haunts Oedipus as a young man, he learned from an oracle that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. When Oedipus heard the prophecy that he is going to kill his father and sleep with his mother he ran away, even when he knew there were suspicions of him being the real son of his parents. "…There was a man dining with us one day who had too much wine and man shouted at me-half drunk and shouting that I was not rightly called my father's son. … Without my parent's knowledge, I went to Delphi, but Apollo did not say what I had gone to hear. Instead,