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The idea of fate vs free will in Oedipus Rex

Article · April 2020

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Udoy Rahman
Daffodil International University
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 Oedipus Rex

Many critics believed that the character of Oedipus is not real but a mythical one. Greek
people were believers of myths and thought it is the real stories of their Gods and people.
Anyway, now I want to try to explain about the idea of ''fate vs free will'' in Oedipus Rex:

Fate is a prevailing power that is supernatural which prefixes the events of human life or
it also can fix the day of death. Human beings who have belief on God believe on fate
and it is unchangeable and unescapable. Greek people were very much fatalists and they
believed that human life is under the control of fate. It is so powerful that sometimes
Gods also were helpless against the fate. Although Gods were aware of their fate but
could not change it. So, it was uncontrollable and supernatural situation for Greeks. in
Oedipus Rex, Prophet very clearly admits that it is impossible to overcome upon fate, and
says "what will be, will be". Oedipus Rex is a about role of fate in human life and the
king Oedipus is the protagonist, who is victimized by his fate.
Oedipus was fixed from birth to someday marry his mother and to murder his father and
it was unconditional and inevitably. His pride, ignorance, insolence and disbelief in the
gods, and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. His
past actions were determined by fate, but what he did in Thebes, he did so of his own
will. Teiresias told that Oedipus was responsible for the murder of Laius, then he told that
old oracle is a liar. Like his father, Oedipus also tries to find ways to escape the horrible
destiny told by the oracle of Apollo. Oedipus does not have a free will or personal
choices for his future or fate. He solves a riddle and defeats the Sphinx, kills former king
and married his wife. He accepted both of these without any pressure as if he makes his
own choices, own free will or own decisions. By doing these, he also fulfills the prophecy
as if it draws automatically at him, his fate. Oedipus’ unyielding desire to uncover the
truth about Laius’ murder and his own birth, led him to the tragic realization of his
horrific actions. Teiresias, Jocasta and the herdsman tried to stop him from following the
truth but he is unable to stop his quest for the truth. For it is in his own vain that he must
solve the final puzzle, the puzzle of his own life. When he discoveries of the truth of his
birth from the herdsman, he cries about his fate. He knew that his fate had indeed come to
pass and feels cursed by it. At the end, Oedipus gouges out his eyes and he is accepting
the full burden of his acts and knew that he must be punished for his sins. He claimed full
responsibility for his actions and feels guilty of killing his father and marrying his
mother.
 The last act of destruction was caused by Oedipus’ free will, but his fate came about
because of the nature of the cosmic order and role of the Gods in human affairs. Oedipus
is arguing that while it is impossible to avoid one's fate, how you respond to your fate is a
matter of free will. The fate is an important factor to determine the flow of the story and
also acts as a barrier to Oedipus’ free will. Finally, we can say that fate is the divine
power that controls free will and determines one's life, so no matter how hard you try to
avoid the fate, it will automatically come to you because it fixed.

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