Oedipus 2 Essay, Research Paper

In ancient Greece, the people believed that the gods ruled their lives and controlled their destiny. Their emphasis on fate was shown in their plays. This stands true to Oedipus, he could not c0ontrol his fate. Fate kept Oedipus alive through a murder attempt and to kill his father, and to marry his mother.

When Oedipus was born his father was so afraid of the prophecy that he gave his son away to be killed. The will of the gods protected Oedipus and found two people to raise him. If the gods didn t control the lives of these people, Oedipus would surely be dead. Fate kept him alive to fulfill his prophecy. Oedipus was put in a situation where he couldn t protect himself, but was still able to overcome it.

Oedipus is now older and leaves the people whom he thinks is his parents. While traveling he runs into a stranger. He gets into an argument with this stranger and kills him. The stranger turned out to be the king, and also his father. With the king away a sphinx shows up and causes mischief. Oedipus answers the riddle correctly and with it the sphinx leaves. Because of this Oedipus is given the throne. Fate has kept him alive and given him the chance to kill his father and overtake the thrown. Now that he is king, he meets the old queen and falls madly in love with her. He marries her and he has two children, who in all reality are actually his half sisters. Oedipus has no way of knowing that his wife is actually his mother.

Just when it had seemed to Oedipus his life was becoming fulfilled, he runs into a blind prophet who explains why the city is having such problems. Slowly but surely Oedipus fate comes back to haunt him. It begins with the burning question of, why is the city is undergoing such terrible plagues? The whole town seems to be under a curse from the gods and Oedipus wants to know why. It is then when the prophet tells Oedipus the city s situation is due to the missing king. Oedipus vows to find the killer. Doing this he finds out the truth about his fate.

Oedipus fate was pre-determined long before he ver had a chance to influence it in any way. This alone shows how strongly the Greeks believed in fate and predestination, and especially how much the gods influenced everyday life. Due to the gods, Oedipus had no chance of avoiding his destiny.