In Oedipus The
King, Oedipus is responsible for the tragedy of his own downfall. Oedipus is presented with a series of
choices throughout the play, and his arrogant and stubborn nature push him to
impulsively make the wrong decisions, the decisions that ultimately lead him to
his demise. In the scene in which
Oedipus meets Lauis at the crossroad, he made a decision to kill a man because
he was in such a rush to flee the town to prevent killing his father as the
oracle said he would do. Though Oedipus didn't know Lauis was his father he
still made a decision to commit a crime.
When Oedipus arrives at Thebes, he is presented with yet another
choice: to become the king and to wed the queen, or to move on. Once again,
Oedipus' choice puts him one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy. Oedipus is
not forced into marrying Jocasta, this is simply his decision. Fate is not
responsible. Another example is Oedipus refused to stop looking for the
truth about his parents even when Jocasta, his wife, told him to. “Stop in the
name of god, if you love your own life, call off this search! My suffering is
enough. Listen to me”. Oedipus replied, “Listen to you? No more. I must know it
all, I must see the truth at last” These quotes also prove free will by Oedipus
because Jocasta doesn’t want him to know about his past but he insists and doesn't listen to her. If had chosen to listen to her, he would have never found out
the truth about his past.
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