Essay About Oedipus
Oedipus the King has been portrayed as a victim of fate and the gods in the tragic play by Sophocles. The success of the play is based on the innocence of Oedipus, which makes it evident that he was not entirely responsible for his downfall. I believe Sophocles would agree that the events that unfolded for Oedipus were destined to occur. Some events, like Oedipus Marrying his mother and killing his father, were prophesied to Laius and Jocasta, his parents.
The author represents destiny as a powerful tool. Before Oedipus was born, Queen Jocasta and the King of Thebes, Laius, were prophesied by god Apollo that their unborn son would marry his mother and kill his father. To avoid fate, King Laius injured his son’s ankle and told a shepherd to take him to the mountains where he was supposed to die. Unfortunately, Oedipus does not die on the mountain, in fact, he grew up as a strong man who kills Laius unknowingly. It indicates that Oedipus was blindly following a path of destiny, which he denies.
A local prophet, Tiresias, would later reveal to Oedipus that he was behind his father’s death. As a result, Thebes experiences a series of plagues by the gods, which is another instance of fate. To undo the plagues, Oedipus had to find Laius’s killer. It is in this line that the downfall of Oedipus begins since he was his father’s killer.