role of fate, god or destiny in King Oedipus

Introduction:

There are three great writers of tragedy with respect to Greek literature; Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus was a strong believer of fate and Sophocles was also a believer of fate but not as much as Aeschylus was. But Euripides preferred to write about the common people rather than gods, fates and kings and he was successful in his approach.

The ancient Greeks believe that fate is to be distinguished from Parcae, which means birth spirits. Fate often meant to be the expressed divine will and it was the belief of the Greeks that there were different kinds and manifestations of destiny i.e. one for the individuals, one for races and one for the world. The ancient Greeks believed in three fates or Moirai. The Fates are the three sisters, robed in white, who decide on human fate. Even though the Fates are often depicted as old, ugly and unmerciful, they are most honored among the gods because they distribute justly and have a share in every home. They give men at their birth their share of evil and good, and equally they punish the transgressions of both men and of gods. Atropos is said to be the eldest, the best and the shortest of the sisters. Clotho is the "spinner" and Lachesis; the apportioner of lots. The thread of life is spun upon Clotho's spindle, measured by the rod of Lachesis and finally snipped by the shears of Atropos, the inevitable one. Their priests and ministers were always oracles, seers and soothsayers. It is said that only Zeus, the King of the Olympian gods, can weigh the lives of men and that it is he who informs the three sisters of his decisions. In that case, the Fates are viewed only as the instrument of Zeus. Still others claim that not even Zeus is beyond the power of the Fates and that he is subject to their whim that would make the Fates the most powerful of all the deities.

Free will or Fate:

The events in Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, show an underlying relationship of man's free will existing within the cosmic order or fate which the Greeks believed guided the universe in a harmonious purpose. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions. Both the concept of fate and free will played an integral 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. This prophecy, as warned by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what he may have done to avoid it. His past actions were determined by fate, but what he did in Thebes, he did so of his own will.

            In order for Sophocles' Greek audience to relate to the tragic figure, he had to have some type of flaws or an error of ways. This brought the character down to a human level, invoking in them the fear that "it could happen to them." And Oedipus certainly is not one without flaws. His obsession for truth, arrogant, blind judgment, ignorance, arbitrary in his decisions, insolence and disbelief in the gods ultimately contributed to his destruction.

Appearance of Freedom:

Apollo does not force his will upon the characters but allows them at least the appearance of freedom, if not real freedom. What happened to them is the result of their own actions, though we may sometimes have the feelings that the characters are not really free, or conscious, in what they do.

Obsession for Truth:

Oedipus' unyielding desire to uncover the truth about Laius murder and the mystery surrounding his own birth, led him to the tragic realization of his horrific deeds. Teiresias, Jocasta and the shepherd tried to stop him from pursuing the truth. Take an example of Triesias hides the things from Oedipus as he knows the truth and he does not want Oedipus to know the truth that he is the husband of his own mother and the killer of his own father.

Triesias says:

“Let me go home. It will be easier thus for you to bear your burden, and me mine.”(line 321,322, page 34)

Oedipus replies:

            “By the gods! If you know, do not refuse to speak! We all beseech you; we are all your suppliants.”(line 327, 328, page 34)

From the above line, it can be observed clearly that Triesias was well aware of the circumstances that the prophecy had come true. Triesias knows that Oedipus has done serious crimes as he kills his father and incest with his own mother and the prophecy about him comes true that is the reason why Triesias wants Oedipus to stop the search about truth and quit the things here but Oedipus does not want to stop here as he wants to find the killer of the Laius and he is pleading Triesias to tell the truth. This shows that Oedipus has an obsessed personality which leads him to destruction of his own.

            At another part of the play Jocasta, after realizing that the prophecy had come true, She begs him to just let the mystery go unsolved for once.

Jocasta says:

“No! In God’s name-if you want to live, this must not go on. Have I not suffered enough?”(Line:1066-1077, Page 55)

Oedipus replies:

"I must. I cannot leave the truth unknown.” (Line 1077, page 55)

Oedipus is unable to stop his quest for the truth, even under his wife’s pleading. For it is in his own vein that he must solve the final riddle, the riddle of his own life. Here Jocasta is trying that Oedipus must not solve this riddle because she knows the truth at this part of the play but all efforts are in vain to stop Oedipus from solving the riddle.

             Upon discovery of the truth of his birth from the Shepherd, he is continuously arguing with him so that he must tell him what he knows about the entire story.

And when the Shepherd denied telling him the truth he went strict to him.

Oedipus says:

“If you won’t speak willingly, we must make you speak.”(Line 1148, page 57)

Oedipus is putting all of his efforts here to know something about the killer of Liaus and for solving the riddle of his own life as we can see and judge that he is an obsessed person and he himself do certain actions which is the reason of the curse and it was all due do his own will.

Arrogance and Blasphemy:

In Sophocles plays arrogance and blasphemy against the gods are always punished as Oedipus was not showing the respect to the Teiresias and the gods.

He disregards Teiresias' special skills, social rank, prior good record, and advanced age. He acts badly, just because he doesn't like being accused of the killing of Theban King Laius. And yet before Teiresias' appearance, Oedipus indicates that he deserves the same punishment as ordinary people if he's found to be guilty, involved or remiss regarding the unsolved murder. Arrogance refers to a sense of pride that exaggerates one's own importance and disdains the feelings of others. Theban King Oedipus may be called arrogant when he calls Teiresias; the blind prophet a liar. He does so publicly.

Oedipus was so much arrogant, conceited and egotistical that he showed disrespect to the gods and the prophet Teiresias. Here we can have an example of his arrogance:

Oedipus says:

“ There was a riddle too deep for common wits; A seer should have answered it; but answer came there none from you; bird-lore and god-craft all were silent. Until I came- I, ignorant, Oedipus came – And stopped the riddler’s mouth.”

(Lines 396-400, Page 36, 37)

Here Oedipus is showing disrespect to the prophet and gods and he is boasting of his own intelligence that he is the one who solved the riddle of the Sphinx neither Teriesias nor the gods. His pride in his own wisdom is one of his glaring faults. His success in solving the riddle of Sphinx seems to have further developed his inherent feeling of pride. No seer or prophet found the solution; this was Oedipus boast. Pride and self-confidence induce him to feel almost superior to the gods.

If Oedipus has shown humble and calm nerves and has shown some respect to the gods and prophet than this might be possible that the things are not exaggerated too much and he could avoid the punishment and destruction that is a result of his doings due to his own will.

Blind in his judgment:

Oedipus grows up as the son of Polybus and Merope. When Oedipus was a young man he was told that he was not Polybus, the king’s son. He tires to dismiss this horrible accusation as that of a drunken man, but it always bothered him. One day Oedipus decides to go to the Oracle to have knowledge of his birth.

The oracle tells Oedipus his fate is the death of his father by his own hands and that he will marry his mother. He does not answer the original question Oedipus asked as to who his true parents are. Upon hearing this Oedipus decides to leave the city and never return as long as his parents (Polybus, Merope) are alive.

Oedipus is running from his fate as he leaves the city and heads far from there. On his travel down the road he encounters a chariot drawn by horses and they force him off the road, and as the charioteer went by Oedipus hits him, the man swings back. Oedipus hits him with a blow that knocks him out of the chariot, and the man falls dead to the ground and the man was his real father Laius and Oedipus was unaware of it. Oedipus continues his travels; he comes to a city called Thebes. After solving the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus becomes the King of Thebes and marries the current Queen, Jocasta.

This shows that the Oedipus was blind in his judgment; he should have vowed that never to fight anyone or a man as old as his father and should have taken a vowed that he will never get married or he must not marry a woman of his mother age. This shows that Oedipus suffers due to his own actions and not by the fate as he is responsible for his own actions and this was in his own hands.

Oedipus, not a Puppet but a free agent in his actions:

The oracle which was given to Liaus and Jocasta and oracle given to Oedipus do not represent the will of Apollo as it means that the god with his superior knowledge can foresee and predict about the future as he knows the good and bad qualities of the man and he knows that how he is going to act in such a situation.

            It could be said that the god is cruel because he had not answered the question of Oedipus about his parents and he remained silent. But here we could not blame the god as there could be a high moral purpose due to which he remains silent. We can say that one must put his head down to the will of god and he should not try to challenge the god.

            So, we can say that the Oedipus suffered due to the actions done by him as he was free in his actions and the god while seeing his good and bad qualities predicts about his future but the rest was in the hands of Oedipus and he himself is responsible for his destruction and this all was due to his own will not due to fate. Oedipus suffered due to his own hamartia.

Delphic Morality:

According to the Greek tragedy Hubris leads to the Ate and then to Nemesis. Hubris is the sinful pride as in Oedipus and it results in ate or self-infatuation and as a result you become blind in judgment and it leads to the faulty decisions and when this happens it  leads to Nemesis which means destruction.

            The term Hubris means a behavior without proper limits; arrogance; insolence; defiance to the laws of the gods or moral laws. First, Oedipus has committed a murder and engaged in incest. He has mocked the gods. Oedipus solved the riddle of the sphinx and claimed he did everything on his own. In a sense, he looked down on the gods. The Greeks believed that there were powers higher than themselves. Man was great but not as great and powerful as the gods. Oedipus showed the opposite. Secondly, he shows the opposite by insulting the gods. He stated that he didn’t need them in his life. Here he commits blasphemy, which is a term meaning, the act of speaking out against a sacred person. Lastly, his anger shows another hubris. He speaks out against Teiresias, stating that he was a wicked old man. In response, Oedipus showed no respect for Teiresias. For this, he will endure great Nemesis for his hubris’s. Nemesis is a term, which means great punishment for going against a god. His failure to listen to the god’s warnings resulted by making his life a living nightmare. He had committed the unmentionable and he’d rather not exist at this point. Oedipus, ruler of Thebes, murdered his own father and married his mother. Such acts are almost always deemed unnatural and criminal; they are not tolerated within a traditional society. A person who has committed these illegal acts of murder and incest would be considered a criminal.

Oedipus says:

“Now, shedder of father’s blood, Husband of mother, is my name; Godless and child of shame, Begetter of brother-sons; what infamy remains that is not spoken of Oedipus?” (Line1362-1367, page 63)

Oedipus dwelled in his own self-pity; later raking his own eyes out. He couldn’t stand the mere site and existence of himself. Oedipus Rex exhibited signs of anger and rash judgment towards Creon. In addition to his Intellectual Pride and Hubris, his anger is another part of his character “flaw” to add to the list. Creon has always been faithful to Oedipus. Oedipus calls Creon a murderer. In response, Creon comes back to defend himself by reasoning. Creon hates chaos and he’s a true friend to Oedipus. Oedipus lashes out his anger and tells Creon that he is an evil person. Later on his wife kills herself. He finds her in the room hanging. Oedipus wonders with no eyes and bleeding. He says the people of Apollo did it to him, but he “alone” committed the acts. His intellectual Pride, Hubris, and anger and rash judgment caught up to him in the end. He did things so evil that outraged the entire laws of the human race. For this he takes responsibility for his actions.

Conclusion:

I believe that Sophocles believed in both fate and free will, but mainly that man has free will, it just exists within fate and the limitations that go along with it. The life and fate of Oedipus was that of tragic circumstances. However, Oedipus's tragic fall was produced due to his own hamartia. So, we can say that the Oedipus suffered due to the actions done by him as he was free in his actions and the god while seeing his good and bad qualities predicts about his future but the rest was in the hands of Oedipus and he himself is responsible for his destruction and this all was due to his own will, not due to fate.