The play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles shows that fate cannot be escaped. Oedipus was born with a horrible prophecy told to his parents, the king and queen of Thebes, that he would kill his own father and marry his mother. They had Oedipus taken up to a mountain to leave him there to die. A shepherd took pity on him and gave to a shepherd from another kingdom. That shepherd then gave him to the king and queen of Corinth who had no children of their own and who raised him. He was mistakenly told that he was not his father’s son.
After consulting an oracle, he fled the kingdom of Corinth for fear of what was prophesied. On his journey he murdered his father without knowing that it was his father. He then traveled to Thebes where he became king and married his own mother. When the truth was revealed, his wife/mother committed suicide, and Oedipus tore his eyes and insisted on being banished from Thebes. Oedipus led the exact life that was prophesied. In this play Oedipus’s free-will led to his fate.
The choices made by the character sin the play allowed for fate to take its toll. One example is when the shepherd made the decision to spare Oedipus’s life. That is the first step on the road to the his fate. Another example is when the drunken man revealed the truth about Oedipus’s father. That is the second step on the road to his fate. When Oedipus left Corinth, he opened up the third step on the road to his fate. He then made the decision to kill a man, who turned out to be his father.
That is the fourth step on the road to his fate. Finally, Oedipus became the king of Thebes and married his own mother, which is the last step on the road to his fate. He did exactly what was prophesied by the decisions that he and other people in the play made. In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus is doomed to his fate. He tries to escape by using his own free-will, but, in the end, he has to face his fate. The only way Oedipus could have escaped the fate that was prophesied to him was to have been killed when he was born.
