ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Fate versus free will is the central theme of the play. The story revolves around Oedipus’ attempt to use his own free will to escape the prophecy given to him by the Oracle of Delphi. The oracle prophesied that Oedipus’ fate was to marry his mother and kill his father.

Detailed explanation-2: -Oedipus does not have a free will or personal choices for his future or fate. He solves a riddle and defeats the Sphinx, kills former king and married his wife. He accepted both of these without any pressure as if he makes his own choices, own free will or own decisions.

Detailed explanation-3: -Oedipus himself makes a different argument at the end of the play, when he says that his terrible deeds were fated, but that it was he alone who chose to blind himself. Here, Oedipus is arguing that while it is impossible to avoid one’s fate, how you respond to your fate is a matter of free will.

Detailed explanation-4: -Oedipus himself makes a different argument at the story’s end, when he says that his terrible deeds are fated, but that it is he alone who chose to blind himself. His argument is that while it is impossible to avoid one’s fate, how one responds to his fate is a matter of free will.

Detailed explanation-5: -In Oedipus the King, one of Sophocles’ most popular plays, Sophocles clearly depicts the Greek’s popular belief that fate will control a man’s life despite of man’s free will. Man was free to choose and was ultimately held responsible for his own actions.