Essay - Oedipus and Tragic Flaw

Aswin:

The play Oedipus the King categorized as tragedy because Oedipus exiled from his own kingdom and he is exiled because of his own oath. Oedipus at first did not realize that he is the one that kill Laius, because Laius exiles him when he was a baby and became the stepson of king of Corinth, Polybus. Plaque struck Thebes when Oedipus rules the kingdom and he decided to look for the murderer who kills Laius. Oedipus has the idea after hear the suggestion of the Oracle of Delphi through Creon. When making decision Oedipus does not try to look at the problem carefully but in haste. He thinks that the faster the problem solved, the better the situation will be. Oedipus think when he ask his people about the murderer identity his people will name the murderer right at instant, but actually it is really difficult to name the murderer because there is only a few people knows about the murderer. This actions represent the recklessness of Oedipus which lead him to his own downfall because instead of look at the case carefully first, he ask his people directly in front of the public. The other action that Oedipus takes is insulting Tiresias when the prophets try to avoid his question, Tiresias avoid the question because Tiresias know who the killer of Laius is. Oedipus also accuses Creon when he asks Tiresias about the murderer, Oedipus think that there is a conspiracy between Tiresias and Creon. These actions shows how Oedipus do an error judgment about certain people and his accuse toward Creon has no prove at all, even he do not try to investigate about the identity of the murderer at first. The last action that Oedipus does, make him found the truth about the killer and his identity. Oedipus asks the shepherd and forces him to tell about the baby that exile from the kingdom. The shepherd does not want to tell Oedipus because the shepherd knows the baby is actually Oedipus. The truth, which was revealed by the shepherd, makes the mystery of the murderer revealed. It was Oedipus who kill his own father Laius. After the mystery revealed Oedipus decided to exile himself from Thebes, just as the oath that he says to his people. The mystery of the murderer leads Oedipus to seek out his past and the discovery of the truth which leads him to his own downfall.

kharis :

Oedipus, predestination and free will

The story is clear to us readers that the story of Oedipus is dealing with the issue of predestination. When Laius warned by the oracle at Delphi, this event shows the determined fate for both Laius and Oedipus. The warning becomes real when Oedipus journeys out of the kingdom of Corinth and meets Louis on his way and kills him, and fulfilling the prophecy. I wonder if Oedipus stays at Corinth, will the prophecy still be accurate. Perhaps if Oedipus never lefts Corinth, the story will be change, but, will Louis still be dead in the hand of Oedipus? If it’s predetermined that Oedipus will kill Louis, will different actions bring different results? My point is, what kind of a result would Oedipus have when he acts differently from the original story? Will he successfully defy his fate and thus the prophecy itself is failed to predict/reveal his future?

I believe that Oedipus has the free will to choose the path he is going to take just like us, a normal person. His free will is shown when he chooses to left Corinth to avoid the prophecy from becoming true. But, his free will brings him to the fulfillment of the predetermined fate for both Oedipus and Laius. So, free will brings fulfillment of the fate. This is sounds complex, but this is a fascinating topic to discuss. We know and we understand that what is determined by the Most High can’t be defied. God created us with a purpose, or in the context of Oedipus, He has a purpose determined by Fate. From this, we can draw a question, so if human’s life is predetermined, do we have a free will? Because it’s not free at all if we can’t fight for our own destiny, or some of the hero says in movies, our future.

Predestination exists and the free will inside of human also does exist. God is all knowing. That means, He knows our future individually. He knows what we will do in the next ten years, and He knows what we are going to do in the next 5 minutes. God also gives us free will. We are not robots. We have our own consciousness to decide something, and God knows what we are going to decide and the results of our decision. Because He knows the future, that means, He is also taking control of our lives.