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Monday, November 9, 2009
Oedipus' Fate
Could Oedipus have avoided his “fate?” Explain your answer. If you are going to agree with someone, you need to add something and not simply repeat his or her words.
In the book Oedipus the king, Oedipus's fate is decided when he is very young. The prophecy eventually comes true, but Oedipus is the one that makes it come true. He could have avoided it if he wanted to, but his flaws made the prophecy become a reality. Some things he couldn't control, but the majority of them he could have. Oedipus doesn't have just one flaw, he has many, and all of them contribute to his downfall.
His flaws are that he thinks too highly of himself, which means that he doesn't listen to others. When the oracle tells Oedipus that he doesn't want to know the real truth, Oedipus ignores him and thinks that he is the one that is going to solve the mystery. He wants glory for himself, and doesn't care about risks. He wants to be the one and only hero that solves the mystery and saves Thebes like he did when he answered the Sphinx's riddle.
Another factor in his downfall is chance. Although his personality contributes to dooming him, that isn't the whole reason. When his mother gave him away, it so happened that he went to a kingdom nearby. However, he chose to leave and that's when he found his father. That was another example of chance. He met his real father on the crossroads, but he decided to kill him.
So the prophecy could or could not have come true. Most of it came from his own decisions. So chance put him in the position to make a decison, but he had to make the right choice.
Throughout the novel Oedipus The King, Oedipus was doomed to a horrible prophecy. Its stated that Oedipus would marry his mother and kill his father. While unraveling the truth of the murder of king Laius, he eventually incriminated himself. The truth of the prophecy lead to the downfall of Oedipus. But, I believe that Oedipus could have somewhat controlled his "fate".
One of Oedipus's fatal flaws was his desire for knowledge. This strive was the factor that drove him the the original oracle which revealed his true fate. In addition, these desire for the truth also drove him to discover the mysteries of his past. Despite several warnings from the Shepard and Tiresias, Oedipus continued to pursue the secrets of the murder of Laius and his past. If Oedipus wasn't so determined, he wouldn't have discovered he was the true murderer of Laius, his father, and how he married his mother. This brings up the question, is there some things that shouldn't be known? If Oedipus hadn't forced the information out of several people despite their caution, the public also wouldn't have discovered his scandalous secrets and he wouldn't have been exiled. All in all, if Oedipus was striving for knowledge, he wouldn't have found out the prophecy's truth and be doomed to a life of shame and disgust.
-In the contexts of the book Oedipus, Oedipus was unable to avoid his fate. Within Greek culture, if something is foretold in a prophecy, than it is the truth. No matter what happens, its predictions will be fulfilled. Oedipus goes as far as having prophecies effect other prophecies. Due to the predictions that Oedipus would kill his father, he gets sent away. It is because of this that he doesn't find out who his parents are, therefor allowing him to kill his father and marry his mother without realizing what he was doing.
- Although fate controlled Oedipus in the context of Greek culture, Oedipus had the ability to avoid his fate if he was a real person. It was by his action that he killed his father, married his mother, and had children with her. If he didn't do that, he would not of had a downfall. However even if he did do that, had he not put himself in a position where reputation matters (being the king of Thebes) and pursued the secrets of his past despite countless warnings, than he would have been fine. He could have completely avoided his fate. Chance and fate played no role in him not listening to people, or making the way he lived his life matter. He knew he killed multiple people, and he knew that people said he shouldn't ask about his past. It was entirely in his control whether or not he would reach his ultimate fate of demise.
In my opinion, Oedipus could not have avoided his fate. His fate had been chosen for him when he was a young boy, and he could not do anything about it. However, the prophecy in which he was to shed the blood of his own father and marry his mother, seemed like something he could control. He thought he could just run away and not come back. The problem with this idea was that the parents he thought he was running from were not his real parents. He did not know that he was in fact given away by his mother because of her own prophecy by Apollo. So in the end, the prophecy had already come true because the woman he was married to and had children with, was his mother, and the old man he killed had the triple crossroads was his father. Another contributing factor is that Oedipus' own free will. He was a self-sacrificing man, but he also thought very highly of himself and the way he overdid everything was a big factor in his downfall. He defeated the sphinx but then once he became king, he automatically thought he could do everything and he was the only one to help everyone. Then when it came to the point of him learning about his real origin, he went too crazy about it and stuck pins in his eyes so he couldn't see. So basically everything he did was his own choice, which then led to one bad thing after another. He chose to marry Jocasta; he chose to kill the old man Laius. And he chose to learn about his origin, as well as pin out his own eyes. Oedipus was a stubborn, overwhelming man with a bad temper and his fate could not be changed and his free will was used badly
In the book Oedipus, I don't think that Oedipus could have controlled his fate. He is told a prophecy and while attempting to avoid it, he inadvertently made it come true. This however, wasn't the true cause of his fall. The reason for Oedipus' fall was his own curiosity. He would have been fine had he not try to figure out his past. Oedipus was stubborn and kept pushing for more and more information, eventually finding out the horrible truth. He wouldn't be able to avoid his fate. Oedipus had a thirst for knowledge and that was what brought him down. When he finds out what he did he has to subject himself to his own punishment, which is his own fault. He didn't know when to stop.
In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus could have avoided his fate. If he did not believe everything he heard, then his whole situation could've been altered. It started when he was a young boy and a drunk old man told him that Polybus wasn't his real father. Because he believed the old man, he went to the oracle, who told him the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He didn't yet know that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, so he ran away from Polybus so the prophecy couldn't come true. He actually ran to the problem, and ends up confirming the prophecy. Also, because he defeated the Sphinx and became king of Thebes, Oedipus believes that he needs to find the truth about everything. When Tiresias and Jocasta tell him not to pursue the truth about Laius' death, he doesn't listen, and finds the truth, and goes crazy.
Fate, by definition, is the development of events beyond one's own control. Everyone's fate is is out of their own control, otherwise it would not be their fate. In Oedipus the King, the hero Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother. In the story, Oedipus tries to escape this fate only to further cement his own downfall. It could be interpreted that Oedipus caused his own fate to come true. Although I do not agree with this, even though this does not contradict fate's definition. Fate is believed to be that of some supernatural doing, yet I don't agree with this, I believe that fate is anything that is bound to happen no matter what one does. This could be controlled by anyone, or no one. In my own opinion, Oedipus' fate was by chance. Usually fate itself can in a sense change and not change. Take this, if Oedipus decided to accept his fate and stay with his supposed parents, then Oedipus would not meet his fate, and the prophecy would therefore change. It's a confusing prospect that leads back to the grandfather clock scenario.
Oedipus' life was mostly ruled by fate. It followed him everywhere and never semmed to let go. However, Oedipus could have avoided his fate if he had controlled his temper and listened to the truth. At the party where the drunk man told Oedipus that he was adopted, Oedipus freaked out and became very angry at them man. This man was right though. Oedipus was not living with his birth parents. If he had listened to this man he would have heard the prophecy that he recieved at the Oracle of Delphi, realized that since the people he was living with right now were not his actual parents, and stayed in Corinth and not have killed King Laius. Fate is a big topic that no one has an answer to. Fate, to me, does exist but we can change it by the decisions we make.
In the world of the ancient Greeks, it would have been said that Oedipus would not have been able to avoid his fate. When the great god Apollo voices it, either himself or through an oracle, it must come to pass. In ancient Greece, Oedipus would have killed his father and married his mother no matter what, whether it be what really happened or whatnot. But in the world today, it could have been avoided. If Oedipus had travelled farther from his home, then he would have had no further contact with his adoptive father or his biological father. This would have prevented the prophesy from coming true. But if this were so, the tragedy of Oedipus the King would not have been very interesting.
In the play Oedipus by Sophocles, I don't think that Oedipus could have avoided his fate. When Oedipus was told his prophecy at a young age he fled away from home thinking that it was going to come true based upon his adoptive parents who he thought were his real parents. Oedipus thought he was helping himself by leaving home, but really he was making the prophecy come true. It was his fate for this to happen which is why all of the events in the story happened the way they did. The only way that Oedipus could have avoided this all happening is if he had never gone to the oracle at all, but he consulted the oracle because of fate.
Oedipus definitely could have avoided his fate but not being as afraid of it as he was. It’s obvious by how the book ends, that when he tried to get away from the prophecy, he actually brought himself to making it come true. However, if Oedipus did not try to run away from the prophecy, he would not have actually brought himself unknowingly closer to it. If he had not tried so hard to get away from the prophecy, he most definitely could have stayed away from it coming true. He would have lived in a different town from his real mother, and would not have run into his father, unknowingly killing him. If he had not tried to get away from the prophecy, he wouldn’t have accidentally brought himself to making it come true. Meaning he could have avoided his own fate.
In Oedipus The King, i believe that Oedipus brought on what happened to him with his own free will. By the definition, fate is not something that you can just avoid; you either believe in it or you don't. The prophecies had been told about Oedipus when he was very young, but if he had not learned about them himself none of it would have came true. In fear of the prophecy he left the safety of his city and ventured to Thebes where everything that could have gone wrong, did. Oedipus had called himself a man of choice, and in reality he was. He was a man whose choices led him to face horrible things.
I do not agree that Oedipus could have avoided his fate. By trying to escape his prophesies he made them come true. So despite Oedipus' attempts to avoid his fate he helped it to become true. This could mean that it was meant to happen whether Oedipus was against it or not. His attempts to thwart fate did not have the effect that he intended. Oedipus could control Thebes for the most part, but he could not seem to control his own life. He did not have a handle on his own future because of his obsession with avoiding his own fate. Oedipus did not know that the king was his father and he did not know that the man he killed was the king. That is a part of his fate and the prophesy that was not controlled by Oedipus at all. Although he knew he was suppose to marry his mother in the prophesy and he was against it, it happened anyway because it was meant to. All of these things added to Oedipus' unavoidable downfall.
In Oedipus, I don't believe he could have avoided his fate. Being it that this was prophecy, there was no way around it. No matter what, his fate would haunt him and he would be unable to avoid being a murderer and doing something of taboo. It is because of who Oedipus is that he made what happened, happen. If he were a different man, there would be no prophecy and thus his fate would end differently. As long as he acts as a person who regards themselves too highly, he will receive the fortune of bringing about his own downfall.
Due to the fact that Oedipus's flaws were what led to his downfall, I think that he could have actually avoided his "fate". One of the big characteristics that led to Oedipus's fate coming true was his anger and quick temper. This main flaw contributes to his downfall greatly. Because Oedipus gets so mad so quickly, when he met Lias at the crossroads that one night after he had been told about the prophecy he was very angry. When the old man he met wouldn't let him have the right of way he decided to lash out and kill him. Little did Oedipus know that this man was his real father and that he just helped in making his terrible fate come true. If Oedipus has controlled himself and thought things over before he acted so quickly on his anger then his fate could have been easily avoided. It's just that his flaws get in the way of him doing what's right.
In the story Oedipus by Sophocles, Oedipus tries to avoid his dreadful prophecy only to fail and become a huge embarrasment. Even though Oedipus tried to avoid his fate, he never would of been able to avoid it because of him being so egotistical and single minded. Oedipus told young as a drunk man that he was adopted, but he just got mad and never believed him. If Oedipus wasn't single minded he would of been able accept the warning and talk to his parents about it. Oedipus also killed his father Laius during an argument he had even though he had never met him before. If Oedipus wasn't so single minded, he probally could of listened to Laius and had a mature conversation instead of just killing him.
16 comments:
In the book Oedipus the king, Oedipus's fate is decided when he is very young. The prophecy eventually comes true, but Oedipus is the one that makes it come true. He could have avoided it if he wanted to, but his flaws made the prophecy become a reality. Some things he couldn't control, but the majority of them he could have. Oedipus doesn't have just one flaw, he has many, and all of them contribute to his downfall.
His flaws are that he thinks too highly of himself, which means that he doesn't listen to others. When the oracle tells Oedipus that he doesn't want to know the real truth, Oedipus ignores him and thinks that he is the one that is going to solve the mystery. He wants glory for himself, and doesn't care about risks. He wants to be the one and only hero that solves the mystery and saves Thebes like he did when he answered the Sphinx's riddle.
Another factor in his downfall is chance. Although his personality contributes to dooming him, that isn't the whole reason. When his mother gave him away, it so happened that he went to a kingdom nearby. However, he chose to leave and that's when he found his father. That was another example of chance. He met his real father on the crossroads, but he decided to kill him.
So the prophecy could or could not have come true. Most of it came from his own decisions. So chance put him in the position to make a decison, but he had to make the right choice.
Throughout the novel Oedipus The King, Oedipus was doomed to a horrible prophecy. Its stated that Oedipus would marry his mother and kill his father. While unraveling the truth of the murder of king Laius, he eventually incriminated himself. The truth of the prophecy lead to the downfall of Oedipus. But, I believe that Oedipus could have somewhat controlled his "fate".
One of Oedipus's fatal flaws was his desire for knowledge. This strive was the factor that drove him the the original oracle which revealed his true fate. In addition, these desire for the truth also drove him to discover the mysteries of his past. Despite several warnings from the Shepard and Tiresias, Oedipus continued to pursue the secrets of the murder of Laius and his past. If Oedipus wasn't so determined, he wouldn't have discovered he was the true murderer of Laius, his father, and how he married his mother. This brings up the question, is there some things that shouldn't be known? If Oedipus hadn't forced the information out of several people despite their caution, the public also wouldn't have discovered his scandalous secrets and he wouldn't have been exiled. All in all, if Oedipus was striving for knowledge, he wouldn't have found out the prophecy's truth and be doomed to a life of shame and disgust.
-In the contexts of the book Oedipus, Oedipus was unable to avoid his fate. Within Greek culture, if something is foretold in a prophecy, than it is the truth. No matter what happens, its predictions will be fulfilled. Oedipus goes as far as having prophecies effect other prophecies. Due to the predictions that Oedipus would kill his father, he gets sent away. It is because of this that he doesn't find out who his parents are, therefor allowing him to kill his father and marry his mother without realizing what he was doing.
- Although fate controlled Oedipus in the context of Greek culture, Oedipus had the ability to avoid his fate if he was a real person. It was by his action that he killed his father, married his mother, and had children with her. If he didn't do that, he would not of had a downfall. However even if he did do that, had he not put himself in a position where reputation matters (being the king of Thebes) and pursued the secrets of his past despite countless warnings, than he would have been fine. He could have completely avoided his fate. Chance and fate played no role in him not listening to people, or making the way he lived his life matter. He knew he killed multiple people, and he knew that people said he shouldn't ask about his past. It was entirely in his control whether or not he would reach his ultimate fate of demise.
In my opinion, Oedipus could not have avoided his fate. His fate had been chosen for him when he was a young boy, and he could not do anything about it. However, the prophecy in which he was to shed the blood of his own father and marry his mother, seemed like something he could control. He thought he could just run away and not come back.
The problem with this idea was that the parents he thought he was running from were not his real parents. He did not know that he was in fact given away by his mother because of her own prophecy by Apollo. So in the end, the prophecy had already come true because the woman he was married to and had children with, was his mother, and the old man he killed had the triple crossroads was his father.
Another contributing factor is that Oedipus' own free will. He was a self-sacrificing man, but he also thought very highly of himself and the way he overdid everything was a big factor in his downfall. He defeated the sphinx but then once he became king, he automatically thought he could do everything and he was the only one to help everyone. Then when it came to the point of him learning about his real origin, he went too crazy about it and stuck pins in his eyes so he couldn't see. So basically everything he did was his own choice, which then led to one bad thing after another.
He chose to marry Jocasta; he chose to kill the old man Laius. And he chose to learn about his origin, as well as pin out his own eyes.
Oedipus was a stubborn, overwhelming man with a bad temper and his fate could not be changed and his free will was used badly
In the book Oedipus, I don't think that Oedipus could have controlled his fate. He is told a prophecy and while attempting to avoid it, he inadvertently made it come true. This however, wasn't the true cause of his fall. The reason for Oedipus' fall was his own curiosity. He would have been fine had he not try to figure out his past. Oedipus was stubborn and kept pushing for more and more information, eventually finding out the horrible truth. He wouldn't be able to avoid his fate. Oedipus had a thirst for knowledge and that was what brought him down. When he finds out what he did he has to subject himself to his own punishment, which is his own fault. He didn't know when to stop.
In the book Oedipus the King, Oedipus could have avoided his fate. If he did not believe everything he heard, then his whole situation could've been altered. It started when he was a young boy and a drunk old man told him that Polybus wasn't his real father. Because he believed the old man, he went to the oracle, who told him the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He didn't yet know that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta, so he ran away from Polybus so the prophecy couldn't come true. He actually ran to the problem, and ends up confirming the prophecy. Also, because he defeated the Sphinx and became king of Thebes, Oedipus believes that he needs to find the truth about everything. When Tiresias and Jocasta tell him not to pursue the truth about Laius' death, he doesn't listen, and finds the truth, and goes crazy.
Fate, by definition, is the development of events beyond one's own control. Everyone's fate is is out of their own control, otherwise it would not be their fate. In Oedipus the King, the hero Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother. In the story, Oedipus tries to escape this fate only to further cement his own downfall. It could be interpreted that Oedipus caused his own fate to come true. Although I do not agree with this, even though this does not contradict fate's definition. Fate is believed to be that of some supernatural doing, yet I don't agree with this, I believe that fate is anything that is bound to happen no matter what one does. This could be controlled by anyone, or no one. In my own opinion, Oedipus' fate was by chance. Usually fate itself can in a sense change and not change. Take this, if Oedipus decided to accept his fate and stay with his supposed parents, then Oedipus would not meet his fate, and the prophecy would therefore change. It's a confusing prospect that leads back to the grandfather clock scenario.
Oedipus' life was mostly ruled by fate. It followed him everywhere and never semmed to let go. However, Oedipus could have avoided his fate if he had controlled his temper and listened to the truth. At the party where the drunk man told Oedipus that he was adopted, Oedipus freaked out and became very angry at them man. This man was right though. Oedipus was not living with his birth parents. If he had listened to this man he would have heard the prophecy that he recieved at the Oracle of Delphi, realized that since the people he was living with right now were not his actual parents, and stayed in Corinth and not have killed King Laius. Fate is a big topic that no one has an answer to. Fate, to me, does exist but we can change it by the decisions we make.
In the world of the ancient Greeks, it would have been said that Oedipus would not have been able to avoid his fate. When the great god Apollo voices it, either himself or through an oracle, it must come to pass. In ancient Greece, Oedipus would have killed his father and married his mother no matter what, whether it be what really happened or whatnot. But in the world today, it could have been avoided. If Oedipus had travelled farther from his home, then he would have had no further contact with his adoptive father or his biological father. This would have prevented the prophesy from coming true. But if this were so, the tragedy of Oedipus the King would not have been very interesting.
In the play Oedipus by Sophocles, I don't think that Oedipus could have avoided his fate. When Oedipus was told his prophecy at a young age he fled away from home thinking that it was going to come true based upon his adoptive parents who he thought were his real parents. Oedipus thought he was helping himself by leaving home, but really he was making the prophecy come true. It was his fate for this to happen which is why all of the events in the story happened the way they did. The only way that Oedipus could have avoided this all happening is if he had never gone to the oracle at all, but he consulted the oracle because of fate.
Oedipus definitely could have avoided his fate but not being as afraid of it as he was. It’s obvious by how the book ends, that when he tried to get away from the prophecy, he actually brought himself to making it come true. However, if Oedipus did not try to run away from the prophecy, he would not have actually brought himself unknowingly closer to it. If he had not tried so hard to get away from the prophecy, he most definitely could have stayed away from it coming true. He would have lived in a different town from his real mother, and would not have run into his father, unknowingly killing him. If he had not tried to get away from the prophecy, he wouldn’t have accidentally brought himself to making it come true. Meaning he could have avoided his own fate.
In Oedipus The King, i believe that Oedipus brought on what happened to him with his own free will. By the definition, fate is not something that you can just avoid; you either believe in it or you don't. The prophecies had been told about Oedipus when he was very young, but if he had not learned about them himself none of it would have came true. In fear of the prophecy he left the safety of his city and ventured to Thebes where everything that could have gone wrong, did. Oedipus had called himself a man of choice, and in reality he was. He was a man whose choices led him to face horrible things.
I do not agree that Oedipus could have avoided his fate. By trying to escape his prophesies he made them come true. So despite Oedipus' attempts to avoid his fate he helped it to become true. This could mean that it was meant to happen whether Oedipus was against it or not. His attempts to thwart fate did not have the effect that he intended. Oedipus could control Thebes for the most part, but he could not seem to control his own life. He did not have a handle on his own future because of his obsession with avoiding his own fate. Oedipus did not know that the king was his father and he did not know that the man he killed was the king. That is a part of his fate and the prophesy that was not controlled by Oedipus at all. Although he knew he was suppose to marry his mother in the prophesy and he was against it, it happened anyway because it was meant to. All of these things added to Oedipus' unavoidable downfall.
In Oedipus, I don't believe he could have avoided his fate. Being it that this was prophecy, there was no way around it. No matter what, his fate would haunt him and he would be unable to avoid being a murderer and doing something of taboo. It is because of who Oedipus is that he made what happened, happen. If he were a different man, there would be no prophecy and thus his fate would end differently. As long as he acts as a person who regards themselves too highly, he will receive the fortune of bringing about his own downfall.
Due to the fact that Oedipus's flaws were what led to his downfall, I think that he could have actually avoided his "fate". One of the big characteristics that led to Oedipus's fate coming true was his anger and quick temper. This main flaw contributes to his downfall greatly.
Because Oedipus gets so mad so quickly, when he met Lias at the crossroads that one night after he had been told about the prophecy he was very angry. When the old man he met wouldn't let him have the right of way he decided to lash out and kill him. Little did Oedipus know that this man was his real father and that he just helped in making his terrible fate come true.
If Oedipus has controlled himself and thought things over before he acted so quickly on his anger then his fate could have been easily avoided. It's just that his flaws get in the way of him doing what's right.
In the story Oedipus by Sophocles, Oedipus tries to avoid his dreadful prophecy only to fail and become a huge embarrasment. Even though Oedipus tried to avoid his fate, he never would of been able to avoid it because of him being so egotistical and single minded. Oedipus told young as a drunk man that he was adopted, but he just got mad and never believed him. If Oedipus wasn't single minded he would of been able accept the warning and talk to his parents about it. Oedipus also killed his father Laius during an argument he had even though he had never met him before. If Oedipus wasn't so single minded, he probally could of listened to Laius and had a mature conversation instead of just killing him.
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