Free Paper Sample on Oedipus' Attempts to Outrun Prophecy

Introduction

A prophecy is about the prediction of events that are most likely to happen in the future. It is the specification of the chain of events that will result from events in the future. In this case, the major theme is prophecy. There was a chain of events that was predicted before, bound to be fulfilled in the future. A prophecy can either be desirable or undesirable. When it is desirable, people are bound to embrace it and anticipate the events that will come in the future. However, when the events are adverse, people are more likely to try to change the prophecy.

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All efforts by the people will be geared towards preventing the negative details associated with the prophecy. To some extent, the severity of the negative effects can be mitigated. However, in some cases, the adverse effects of the prophecy cannot be prevented, like this play's case. That means that prophecy was accurate, although the result may be undesirable to the major parties being considered.

Arguments

Sophocles argues that in life, some events are in the future, which cannot be controlled, despite the determination shown by people. That can be seen through the chain of events in the play. The major prophecy is that King Laius of Thebes will be killed by his son later in life (Sophocles 20). That is an undesirable event that anyone would like to mitigate. Therefore, the king and Oedipus' mother were determined to ensure the murder does not happen. Therefore, when Oedipus was born, there was the idea of killing him (Sophocles 24). Through his death, the prophecy that he would grow up to kill his father would be prevented. However, the mother was determined to keep the son alive; therefore, she decided to get rid of him instead of killing him. That was seen as a great way to prevent the prophecy from getting fulfilled. After getting rid of the son, there was some assurance that he would not grow up to kill the father. Oedipus was rescued and adopted, which meant there was the chance of the prophecy getting fulfilled in the long run. That was consistent with the mother and the father. Through Sophocles, that was highlighted as the potential of human beings. They are capable of doing anything to mitigate any possible future adverse events. However, they were limited by the strength of prophecies, whereby they could not accurately prevent future events from happening. That was through the fact that Oedipus continues to live, keeping the prophecy alive.

Consequences

The other prophecy was that the king's son would grow up and marry the queen. According to most traditions, that is immoral, and that prophecy was seen as having adverse consequences. Therefore, Jocasta, who was the king's wife and Oedipus' mother, was committed to preventing such an event from happening. Therefore, she got rid of the baby, who was rescued by a shepherd and raised (Sophocles 48). According to Sophocles, that was highlighted as potential by humans, to do anything to prevent the occurrence of negative events in their life. However, there was a limitation of perfection in their mitigation efforts in life. That was highlighted by the rescue of Oedipus by the shepherd. Furthermore, the limitation of human beings was highlighted in terms of their knowledge. The knowledge of human beings is limited to their immediate environment and experiences. Therefore, to the king, the absence of Oedipus meant that they had escaped the prophecy. However, that was highlighted as a limitation because he continued to live. Therefore, they were unable to prevent the fulfillment of the earlier prophecy. Sophocles highlighted the strength of prophecies because the plan by the king and the queen did not work. They lived in the assurance that their will had been executed through getting rid of Oedipus. However, their plans were far from the reality they would be faced with in the future.

The major limitation of human beings was highlighted by Sophocles when the prophecies finally came to pass. Oedipus was adopted and raised by King Polybus of Corinth after being rescued by a shepherd (Sophocles 44). Later, Oedipus came to know about his fate; to kill his father and marry the mother. Therefore, he swore never to go to Corinth to avoid the fulfillment of the prophecy. That was his determination, which highlighted his potential. He could stay away from Corinth, therefore preventing the prophecy from being fulfilled. Later, Oedipus killed his father, and later inherited the widow, who was his mother, after solving a riddle (Sophocles 35). He was unaware that he had killed his father, therefore fulfilling one of the prophecies. Later, he married the widow, who was his mother, therefore fulfilling the second prophecy which he swore to avoid. All of that happened despite the determination of him, the father and mother, to prevent the prophecy's occurrence. They stayed for some time before some events started unfolding. Through the Shepard confession that rescued him, it was revealed that he had married his mother. Furthermore, he had killed his father, who was the king before his death. Therefore, Sophocles proved that human beings are bound by prophesied, which in most cases, they cannot control. It is beyond human ability to prevent some types of prophecies from occurring, highlighting the major theme in this case.

Conclusion

Human beings have massive potential, where they can control the outcome of most events. That is seen through their plans, which yield long term results, highlighting their superior potential. However, humans are faced with limitations in controlling their fate. It is challenging for an individual to run from their fate, as shown by Sophocles's evidence. The king, Oedipus and his mother were all committed to preventing the prophecies from occurring. However, they were limited by their inability to accurately forecast future events. Furthermore, the limitation of lack of cooperation was another reason for the inability to escape their fate. Had Jocasta killed the son, then they would have mitigated the adverse effects of the prophecy. However, that was not the case, which then led to the fulfillment of the prophecies. Thus, through the plot, Sophocles highlights the potential and limitations of human beings.

Work Cited

Sophocles, E. A. Oedipus the king. Classic Productions, 1994. http://azactorsacademy.com/uploads/plays/oedipus_rex.pdf