Austin Budhram
English 2800
Professor Peer
The Fate of Oedipus the King

From the moment of birth, every individual has a purpose in life. Although we make decisions that seemingly alter our fate, these actions are insignificant when considering that our destinies are predetermined. The Greek Tragedy, Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, entails the quest of Oedipus the King in avoiding his inevitable fate. As a young man, Oedipus becomes aware of his prophecy, which states, “I would be my mother’s lover, I would show the world children no one could bear to look at, I would murder the father whose seed I am.” (911-914). Due to this prophecy, Oedipus flees his homeland of Kornith to reside at Thebes. There, Oedipus prioritizes avenging the death of King Laios, who was killed “at a place where three roads met” (832).  Despite the commitment of Oedipus to find the convicted murderer of the former King Laios, he couldn’t escape the truth; he’s responsible for his father’s death. This chaotic sequence of events results in the chaos that ensues in Thebes. All in all, despite Oedipus’ admirable pursuit to avenge his father’s death, he couldn’t avoid the unfortunate sequence of prophecies that plagued him from birth.

Oedipus’ first steps in fulfilling his prophecy began with his departure from Kornith. In Kornith, Oedipus resided with Polybos and Merope, whom he believed to be his biological parents. However, the reality is that Polybos and Merope found Oedipus on a mountainside, where he was left by King Laios and Jokasta to die. However, at this point of the play, Oedipus does not know the truth of his childhood events. While attending a social gathering, Oedipus encountered “a man who had drunk too much whine claimed I was not my father’s son” (897-898). Polybos and Merope promptly reassured Oedipus that this man was just drunk, and he should not pay mind to him. However, this encounter triggered a sense of insecurity that seemingly plagues Oedipus throughout the play. Before this confrontation, Oedipus was a content young man, who never questioned the legitimacy of his parents. At this moment, Oedipus began to doubt all the events that led to this point in his life. This, in turn, results in his hasty departure from Kornith. Oedipus’ departure from his homeland is considered the inception of Oedipus’ chain of disastrous events. Although it seemed that Oedipus was attempting to avoid his fate, he was indirectly fulfilling his unfortunate prophecies.

In order to achieve a better insight on his life, Oedipus seeks advice from the Oracle of Delphi. However, the information he learned from this oracle was less than ideal. He states,

“Instead,
His words flashed other things –
horrible, wretched things – at me;
I would be my mother’s lover,
I would show the world children no one could near to look at,
I would show the world children no one could bear to look at, I
Would murder the father whose seed I am” (908-914)

At this point, Oedipus was completely perplexed to hear such prophecies. Thus, he “fled to somewhere I’d never see outrages like the god promised, happen to me” (917-919). In Oedipus’ eyes, he believed that he was indeed saving the life of his father, Polybos, by fleeing their homeland of Kornith. As a result, we see a great case of irony developed by Sophocles. Although Oedipus is seemingly “fleeing his problems” by leaving his homeland, he’s embracing the string of events necessary that will result in his unavoidable fate. In addition, Oedipus’ insecurity is at an all-time high at this point. Although it was prominent in his encounter with the drunk man, his reluctance to trust his “parents”, Polybos and Merope, is quite troublesome. In most cases, a child would trust their mother and father, giving the significance of the situation. All in all, Oedipus’ curiosity and lack of trust result in his fulfillment of the deplorable, yet unavoidable prophecies to come.

After fleeing his homeland of Kornith, Oedipus successfully solves the riddle of the Sphinx to become the King of Thebes. At this point, King Laios had been murdered and the city of Thebes was in complete disarray, suffering from a serious plague. However, as Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx, he seemingly “saved” the city from collapsing and became the most respected and noblest man in Thebes. Oedipus essentially replaces the former King Laios and marries his widow, Jokasta, in which they have four children. Due to this marriage, Oedipus fulfills the prophecies echoed by the Oracle of Delphi, which stated that “I would be my mother’s lover, I would show the world children no one could near to look at.” However, Oedipus is clueless to the fact that he has committed an act of incest. Instead, we see the attitude of Oedipus completely change once again. Instead of being the skeptical and insecure man he was in Kornith, he becomes a confident and heroic figure, seeking to avenge the death of the former King Laios. However, signs of his insecure past are evident in his encounter with Tiresias, the blind prophet of Apollo. She states,

“You don’t see
where you live or who shares your house.
do you know your parents?
you are their enemy
in this life and down there with the dead” (499-503).

Once again, the doubt surrounding Oedipus’ parents is the focal point in this argument. However, she interestingly mentions that Oedipus is the “enemy” of his parents. Jokasta handed Oedipus to a Herdsman to abandon in the mountains while Oedipus was a baby, to avoid the prophecy that Oedipus would murder his father and “love” his mother. Thus, Tiresias may regard Oedipus as the “child that shouldn’t have been born”, as he has provoked more chaos than if he was left to die on the mountainside. In addition, it’s quite odd that Jokasta has “accepted” these sequences of events as coincidental. For instance, her husband has been murdered “at a place where three roads met”, with the killer remaining a mystery. In addition, she has married a young man whom successfully solved a riddle to become the King of Thebes, in which they have raised four children. This begs the question; does Jokasta emphatically believe that Oedipus had died as a baby, or is this a case of self-denial by Jokasta to mask the truth?

Cover Letter:
In this essay, my main point was to prove that Oedipus was a victim of unavoidable fate, as opposed to free will. I tried to break the essay down in sequential order, as I would describe and explain instances/signs of fate as they occur in the story. Although I found myself able to do this clearly in the first three paragraphs, I found myself having a difficult time in the fourth paragraph and beyond. I feel that I need to develop new points to explain upon, yet relevant to my thesis, to expand upon in the latter part of this essay. This would ensure that my essay is detailed, yet original and interesting in the closing parts of the essay and play. So far, I believe that I was able to explain this point the best in the second and third paragraphs, which are both situations in which Oedipus has yet to find out about his unfortunate prophecy. In these paragraphs, I mentioned the irony utilized by Sophocles, in which the audience is aware of Oedipus’ fate, while Oedipus remains completely clueless. However, I’m having difficulty developing this thesis in the mid to later stages of the play. As a result, I will ensure that I visit the writing center and find more evidence to base my arguments off of. In addition, I feel that I’m beginning to include unnecessary and irrelevant details into my essay, which is making it a bit confusing to follow. All in all, for my final draft, I hope to develop a more analytical, detailed essay with more evidence and quotes from the play. I’ll visit the writing center when I have a more developed draft before the due date, to iron out the small issues that the essay may have.