In my World Literature class, we are required to write an interact for each reading we discuss in class. By this, I mean that we the students are read our assignments, discuss them in class, and then give our opinion on the readings. One that I did earlier this year was on Sophocles Oedipus the King. I thought it would be interesting for you all to read it; it kinda makes think. Hope you enjoy it.
Oedipus: Was It Fate or Ignorance?
Many of us know the story of Oedipus: as a younger man, he killed his father and married his mother, not knowing his true identity or that he fulfilled the prophecy the Lord of Apollo in Delphi told him. When he found out the truth, he dug out his eyes with his dead mother-wife’s dress pins, saying he did not deserve to see since all the once beautiful things he knew were gone with the truth revealed. But one must wonder if it was fate that caused this happened to Oedipus or if it was his own ignorance that caused his ill fortune.
This is a very strong, debatable conversation. One like this can possibly lead to someone’s faith. Are we set on a path that leads us to our fate, be it good or bad? Or are we in control of our own life and can we make our own path by the choices we make? What if it’s both? If we look closer to the story of Oedipus, we learn from not one, but three oracles that Oedipus was destined to kill his father and lay with his mother; to the oracles, this was the will of the gods. When Oedipus tries to escape his fate, he instead runs straight into the path the gods set for him. Then, being ignorant and not thinking before he speaks, he sets his own destiny of exile and hardship while charging the late King Liaus’ murderer before finding him.
So, many could say Oedipus set his own path. Or that whether he tried to escape it or not, he had a set path ahead of him that he was meant to take. I believe both of these statements are true: Oedipus had a set path and it evolved in time with the decisions he had made. What I’m trying to say is whether we think it or not, our decisions coincide with the path all ready set for us, and together, the path and the decisions shows a future we must face, be it great or horrible.
©2010 Sky Duran
