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Determinism of Oedipus Rex

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Determinism of Oedipus Rex
Determinism of Oedipus Rex
Mustafa Tursun

The life of Oedipus Rex was about determinism over freewill, he lived a life that was filled with fate and not freewill, with no knowledge of his biological parents. Later on in his life (Oedipus) when he was the son of the king and queen of Corinth he went to the same oracle that prophesied Oedipus’ life, the oracle told him “he was destined to murder his father and marry his mother” (paragraph 3). At this moment Oedipus thought immediately of the king and queen of Corinth, because he believed that they were his parents. Without knowledge you don’t really have freewill to choose because you won’t know what is wrong and right, in this story Oedipus did not know that Lauis was his actual father and Jocasta was his birth mother. When something is prophesied it is usually determined for the future, Oedipus’ life wasn’t about free will but about fate and determinism, a big belief in Greek mythology. When Oedipus encountered Lauis, who didn’t know that Oedipus was his son, and Oedipus didn’t know that Lauis was his father, if he did know then Oedipus would have had the freewill to choose to kill or not. The marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta, they didn’t know anything about each other, Oedipus wouldn’t have married his mother, Jocasta, and if he knew that she was his birth mother. Therefore the story of Oedipus Rex was a prophecy that was fulfilled but it was about fate and determinism, and not about free
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