cover Letter
Dear Reader,
I chose to write about how Oedipus was victim of fate and killed his father unknowingly. I also tried to take about his own fault which took him to face that terrible destiny. Since i didn’t finish my analysis on this it might be not very clear to everyone. I still need to analysis more on my claim. moreover i have only Three pages so far so i need to add more analysis on each of my quote. But I tried my best to finish it and make it as clear as i can. Hopefully as I work little more on it will be better.
Tasmia Chowdhury
English 2800
Essay # 2 – first draft
Game of Fate
“It might take a year, it might take a day, but what meant to be will always find a way”. Destiny is such thing that no one has control over. No matter how hard a person try to change his/her bad fate, what meant to happen will happen anyway. Sometimes person’s proudness, anger and high temper also bring a very bad result. “Oedipus the king” Sophocles the king Oedipus was victim of fate however his own fault helped him to face his terrible destiny.
Oedipus was victim of this fate. His own father Laios tried to kill him when he was baby as he heard the oracle saying this baby will kill his father one day. But it was written in this fate that he will survive somehow and kill his father that’s why after this many try of killing him, still he was alive. In page Jokasta said, “a long time back, an oracle reached Laios…It was that Laios was destined to die at the hand of a son born to him and me. Yet, as Rumer had it, foreign bandits killed Laios at a place where three roads meet. But the child was barely three days old when Laios pinned its ankle joints together then had it left, by some one else’s hands, high up a mountain far from any roads” ( line 825-836). When Oedipus was only 3 days old his father heard about this oracle that this baby will kill him one day .So he pinned the baby’s ankle together and order to leave it up to the mountain so that it dies. He tried to kill his own child to avoid the fate but couldn’t. The Herdsman who had the order to kill the 3 days old Oedipus saved the baby out of pity. The Herdsman said, “out of pity, master. I hoped this man would take him back to his own land. But that man saved him for this-the worst grief of all” (line 1330-1333). When the baby was given to herdsman to leave up to mountain he felt pity and instead of killing it he gave it to a messenger of another land. He thought messenger will take the baby far so that the destiny will change. But they failed to do so and Oedipus end up killing his father Laios which totally prove Oedipus was victim of fate.
At the same time when Oedipus heard about the same oracle the tried his best to avoid it by running away from the land he grow up. He left his father and mother who adopted him from the messenger only to change the fate that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus said, “I dread that oracle from god, stranger. No, you may hear it. Apollo told me I would become my mother’s lover. That I would have my father’s blood on these hands. Because of that I haven’t gone near Korinth (line 1134- 1138). As soon as Oedipus heard from Apollo he will kill his father and will be his mother’s lover he ran away from the city he grew up to avoid the oracle. But it was his fate to kill his father so when he was going far from korinth he met his real father Louis and killed him without knowing he was not actually going far from this fate but made it happened already.
However what happed to Oedipus was mean to happen. But his anger, pride, instant decision making arrogance all the negativity helped him to face his bad density. For example at the moment the kill his father it was all because of his anger. Oedipus said,
“The man out front and the old man himself
Began to crowd me off the road.
The driver, who’s forcing me aside,
I smash in anger (line 926-929).
I hit him so fast with the stuff this hand holds,
He’s knocked back. Rolling off the card. When he lies, face up
Then I kill them all (line 933-936).
He literally kill all of them including Louis only because of his anger. They told him to move aside for that reason he killed everyone. Here we clearly see how his anger helped him to fulfill his terrible fate.
Again he was found so proud and angry when the blind prophet denies to say who the killer of Louis was. Oedipus said, “Oh truth has strength, but you have none. You have blind eyes, blind ears, and a blind brain. You survive in the grip of black unbroken night. You can’t harm me or any man who can see the sunlight (line 446-452). Tiresias knew Oedipus was the killer of his Louis so he denied to tell the truth when he was asked. But Oedipus was so angry that he called his blind brain person. He was proud that no man can harm him .Out of anger and pride he started to blame Kreon and Tiresias. He though his moral intelligence and cunning will be enough to change his destiny. But he never knew the truth Tiresias was hiding was the truth of his fate that he was running away from.
Another negativity in his character was his instant decision making which was another worst reason for him to face his fate. When he heard about the oracle that he will kill his father and marry his Mather he didn’t even bother to ask Polybus and Merope about his birth or homeland. He decided to run away from them without asking about where they found him from. Oedipus said,
“His words flashed other things- horrible,
Wretched things – at me
I would be my mother’s lover
O would show the world children
No one could bear to look at, I
Would murder the father whose seed I am
When I heard that, and even after
I traced the road back to Korinth
Only looking at the stars (line 910-917).
Here his decision to leave Korinth without asking Polybos where they found him was wrong decision which made him go to the direction she shouldn’t go. And by taking that way he met Louis and killed him.
Even though Oedipus’s fate was to kill his father and marring his Mather and no one can change the destiny, but this own fault brought him to face this fate as if he intestinally did it. If he was more careful with his anger and decisions that he made the situation might take different mood and there wouldn’t be anything to blame him for.