Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Oedipus and fate
Oedipus the King is a tragedy written by Sophocles in the 5th century BC. The play treats issues that were controversial at the time, themes that still raise debate in the 21st century. The theme of destiny, defined as foreknowledge by the god, is opposed to the human freewill. Sophocles is challenging the traditional religious view that man is ignorant and knowledge belongs to god. However, in the end turns out that the only human freedom is in deciding whether or not to search the truth about yourself.
Discussion question: Do you think that Oedipus is a victim of the gods and his destiny was already set, or his free will contributed to his fate by searching the truth? How does Jocasta change his belief about destiny? What is your position?