Destiny, Fate, Free Will and Free Choice in Oedipus the King - Oracles and Prophecy :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Oedipus:   Oracles and Uncontrollable Fate  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   King Laios the ruler of Thebes, has a son with his wife Queen Iocoste. His name is Oedipus. The soothsayer Teiresias, a loyal servant to the King and Queen tells them some disturbing news. Teiresias tells King Laios and Queen Iocoste that their son, Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother. The king and queen make a decision to take the baby boy up to a mountain far away from the town. King Laios gives the baby to a servant and instructs him to bind the babies ankles and leave him on the mountain side to perish. The servant follows his instructions but instead of leaving the boy on the mountain side he gives him to a shepherd and makes him promise to take the boy to a far away place. This is how King Laios and Queen Iocaste try to avoid their fate. They are threatened by the existence of their son so they try to have him killed, to end their problem. However this plan, almost foolproof does not work. The shepherd brings the baby boy back to his city and gives him to King Polybus because the King and Queen could not have a child. Oedipus grows up as the son of Polybus and Merope. When Oedipus was a young man he was told that he was not his father’s son. He tires to dismiss this horrible accusation as that of a drunken man, but it always bothered him. One day Oedipus decides to go to the Oracle to see his knowledge of Oedipus’ birth. The oracle tells Oedipus his fate is the death of his father by his own hands and that he will marry his mother. He does not answer the original question Oedipus asked as to who his true parents are. Upon hearing this Oedipus decides to leave the city and never return as long as his parents (Polybus, Merope) are still alive. Oedipus is running from his fate as he leaves the city and heads far from there. On his travel down the road he encounters a chariot drawn by horses and they force him off the road, and as the charioteer went by Oedipus hits him, the man swings back. Oedipus hits him with a blow that knocks him out of the chariot, and the man falls dead to the ground.