Determinism In Oedipus The King

In my opinion, the events that are taking place in King Oedipus are unavoidable due to the way in which Sophocles has portrayed determinism and agency throughout the play. Determinism (Fate) refers to a higher being (God) controlling one’s live since birth and the absence of one’s control over his or her destiny even till death. Agency (Free Will) on the other hand refers to human’s ability to decide on the life path they wish to take and the freedom for one to choose their own destiny.

In King Oedipus, Sophocles wrote the play in a manner where it will be impossible for the characters to escape fate. The power of god, specifically Apollo, was demonstrated when all the prophecy that was told to the

Since god was controlling the fate of the characters, it might be impossible for the events that are taking place in King Oedipus to be bypassed even if there were changes made in other circumstances.

From the play, we can see characters attempting to escape fate by using free will. They did so by making decision that they thought could change their destiny, to prevent the oracle from happening. The tragedy however, still happens as predicted. This is evident when Lauis and Jocasta were seen trying to change their fate. After hearing the prophecy from the prophet that their child Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother, they ordered a shepherd man to kill Oedipus and leave him to die in the mountainside. Even so, Oedipus still survived the ordeal after the shepherd man chose not to kill him, as he could not bear to do so. As for Oedipus, he left Corinth after hearing a similar prophecy. He did so to prevent killing Polybus whom he thought was his real father. Eventually, despite Lauis, Jocasta and Oedipus making decision to escape fates, the events that were meant to take place still happen. And ironically, it was fate that was doing its job and