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Sophocles Oedipus the King is one of the most peculiar and intriguing works in of the ancient Greek era. Undoubtedly, the title character Oedipus is faced with an unbelievably harsh situation. He leaves his kingdom behind in order to avoid the fate that was foretold to him, only to end up enduring it anyway. Oedipus is dealt with a debilitating fate, and the reader of Sophocles epic must realize that it is not Oedipus own choices or desires that lead to his demise, but rather the cruel fate that is dealt to him by the gods. The initial argument that a reader must consider is that Oedipus had some control over his future, and that his desire for power and kingdom are what essentially lead to his demise. The reader can argue that Oedipus was a selfish ruler who cared merely about his own advance.
The reader could interpret his statement, Yet your grief, / however great, is not so great as mine (Oedipus the King, 63 - 4), as being a guise to gain sympathy and popularity to the crowd. At the beginning of the play, the reader is unable to get an accurate reading of the true character of Oedipus. He could be a power hungry ruler, who knew the truth about his fate, and hid the reality from his kingdom. The reader can reject this notion as the chorus reveals in lines 1140 - 50, that the throne and Jocasta were given to Oedipus as a reward for ending the long terror that the Sphinx had lashed upon the kingdom of Thebes. We can also reaffirm Oedipus commitment to the kingdom through his willingness to carry out his decree that Laius murder shall be banished from Thebes (Oedipus the King, 216 - 7), even after he realizes that he is the murderer. Oedipus is certainly not at any fault of character for the fate that he must endure.
Perhaps the reader can argue that Jocasta should have been able to control the situation. There are many mistakes that she makes, in avoiding the future that the Oracle foresees. First, Jocasta and Laius could have overseen the execution of the infant Oedipus, and refrained from having any other children. While they do refrain from bearing any more children, the reader must question why they do not kill the infant themselves or at least make sure that the deed is complete.
The solution to their avoidance to this murder is the reality that whether Oedipus life is a curse or not, he is still their child. The reader can easily understand the difficulty it would be to murder their own offspring. The next option that Jocasta rejects may be harder for the reader to understand. Upon hearing of Laius death, Jocasta would have been able to avoid the prophecy if she refused to remarry. The reader must now place himself or herself into the historical period, a Greek era that placed an importance upon male control in the household and in the country. Jocasta would risk her throne if she refused to remarry, and to her the prophecy had already proven false, as her believe was that her husband had since been killed by a band of robbers, and her only offspring had already been eliminated.
The reality of the situation is that her actions would be meaningless, as the gods had total control of the situation. The gods are able to control destiny by any means necessary. The shepherds compassion is surely a direct influence of one of the gods, as the tragedy never could occur if he had merely followed his orders. Even our deepest internal emotions are not immune to the manipulation of fate.
The King and Queen of Corinth could have prevented the tragedy if they had not taken Oedipus in as their own, and educated and trained him to rule, but they had no foresight of what the future would bring. If they had rejected Oedipus, the gods would have found some other means of enacting his fate. Fate is something that no human is able to control. The fate that the gods assign to a mortal is irreversible. There is no way of escape from the future that condemns Oedipus. The chorus explains to the king that, Your fate, O King, your fate makes manifest/ Lifes wretchedness (Oedipus the King, 1137 - 8).
No amount of running, no decisions, no life alterations can prevent the fate of Oedipus from coming into being. Oedipus explains to the chorus that he heard prophecies, whilst he was a young prince, that one day he would kill his father and marry his mother. In a useless attempt to outrun the prophecies, Oedipus leaves his native kingdom of Corinth and declares that he shall not return until the king and queen of Corinth are deceased. He is confident that he will be able to avoid the terrible catastrophes if he can eliminate any contact that he may have had with the parents that he thought were his own. As the reader realizes Fate was actually directing him back onto the path of his destiny... I am known now/ for what I am-I, cursed in being born, / Cursed in my marriage, cursed in the blood I shed (Oedipus the King, 1127 - 9).
Oedipus enkindles the readers spirit to believe in the true despair that the curse has brought him. The tale unfolds the hopeless loathing of fate that humans must endure. Sophocles implores his story of fate upon the reader and calls him to search for the underlying principles and meanings of the story of Oedipus. The true worth of the work is the example of intense devotion and courage that Oedipus shows in his pursuit to end the curse over the city of Thebes. Upon deriving that Polybus was dead, he could have assumed that his curse was over, and ceased all further investigation of the situation. He could have merely blamed the plague that Thebes was enduring, on some criminal from the wilderness.
He could have presented a scapegoat to the community, and although the plague would have continued, the fault would not rest on Oedipus shoulders to the eyes of the community. Instead, he reveals the truth to his people and he becomes a hideous tale of incest and betrayal and is banished from the kingdom. In reality, he is arguably the best ruler that Thebes has ever seen. The story of Oedipus the King presents scholars with a wonderful example of courage and commitment to ones word and country, and voices the message that the gods of fate are the true kings of human existence.
Fate is a universal continuum, which holds no direct path, and has few time constraints to limit its power. The fate of Oedipus is simply unavoidable.
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