The Importance Of Free Will In Sophocles '

“Why do bad things always happen to good people?” You’ve probably heard this saying several times, or you may be one to say it. The answer is actually quite clear in the eyes of Sophocles, who believes that one does not have free will, and every aspect of one’s life is already predetermined. Another extremely well-known saying is by Newton and states that, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” While this statement is definitely true in physics, it sparks controversy when it comes to our lives. According to Sophocles, this saying is anything but true in reality. Nevertheless, there are some with varying opinions about this theory; one Irish scholar named E. R. Dodds has a different view. While Dodds considers the theme that Oedipus
has no free will is “anachronistic” in Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex , the idea of fate was extremely well-known among the Greek during the time of Sophocles, so there is no doubt that Oedipus could not escape the predictions of the oracle given to him, which states that he will one day kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus carries out every portion of his predetermined fate, despite his ignorance and Jocasta’s many attempts to stop the prophecy from coming true. This was unavoidable; Oedipus kills Laius, whilst unaware of the fact that he is his father. Oedipus is also separated from his mother, but fate brings the two back together, and they get married. Evidently, the king has no free will, and he cannot control his prophecy, considering the fact that he did not understand the extent of his actions.
Oedipus reunites with his mother despite the fact that he is separated from her to be killed.
After hearing about the prophecy of her husband, Laius, Jocasta “was afraid — frightening prophecies” (Sophocles 231) and wants to do anything she can to prevent Laius’s death. While Jocasta attempts to use her free will (a right that Dodds’ argues every human has) to give Oedipus away, she realizes there is no such thing, and, because destiny is inescapable, it reunites them. This inevitable prophecy states that (as told by the drunk man at a banquet), “you are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light no man can bear to see” (Sophocles 205). Oedipus’s oracle predicts that he will one day marry his mother, and because this fate is beyond Oedipus’s control, nothing he can do will stop these predetermined aspects from becoming a reality. The shepherd informs Oedipus of this, while the king is trying to understand how he could have possibly killed Laius by saying, “All right! His son, they said was—his son! But the one inside, your wife, she’d tell it best” (Sophocles 231). The man notifies Oedipus that his wife, Jocasta, would tell the story of how Oedipus was given away best, as she was the one to do so. Oedipus is shocked; this is when he realizes that Jocasta is indeed his mother, and Laius is indeed his father. He exclaims, “O god—all come true, all burst to light! O light—now let me look my last on you! I stand revealed at last—cursed
in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands! (Sophocles 232). Oedipus cannot contain his flabbergast at the news, which proves, once again, how ignorant he has been about his the extent of his actions. He has no free will, and all of Oedipus’s actions are already determined for him.
Not only does Oedipus reunite with his mother and marry her, but also manages to kill his father unwittingly. Despite his ignorance, Oedipus is still able to fulfill the predictions of the oracles: he would eventually kill his father. When the drunk man at the banquet informs Oedipus of one of these predictions, saying, “You will kill your father, the one who gave you life” (Sophocles 205), Oedipus runs off and ends up killing a man on a crossroad, that man being Laius, his father. He explains “with one blow of the staff in this right hand I knock him out of his high seat, roll him out of the wagon, sprawling headlong — I killed them all—every mother’s son! (Sophocles 206). Oedipus kills the man, without realizing who he was, and he expresses his bewilderment. The distraught king remains unaware of the connection he has with Laius until later on, when Jocasta explains to him how the death of Laius occurs. It is not by chance, but his fate, that leads Oedipus to run off directly after hearing his fortune and kill a man, who happens to be his father. This is not the only prediction that mentions the possibility of a man killing his father. Jocasta states that “an oracle came to Laius one fine day and it declared that doom would strike him down at the hands of a son, our son, to be born of our own flesh and blood” (Sophocles 201). The prediction allows Oedipus to end up with Polybus, who he believes is his father. Despite this, Oedipus still manages to kill his biological father unconsciously. This is not a coincidence, as Oedipus’s destiny, which includes the killing of his father, is the main contributor to his actions.
Although this theory about the theme is very well-known, there are many who still don’t agree that this is what Sophocles was trying to convey.
An example, who was mentioned earlier, is Dodds, who argues that the theory that the theme of the book is about destiny is “anachronistic.” Dodds is convinced that “fifth-century Greeks did not think in these terms any more than Homer did: the debate about determinism is a creation of Hellenistic thought. Homeric heroes have their ‘predetermined portion of life’; they must die on their ‘appointed day’; but it never occurs to the poet or his audience that this prevents them from being free agents” (Dodds 22). Dodds believes that Greeks did not consider fate as important as we do now and that they do not think in the same way we do today. However, this arguement in invalid, as the Greeks valued free will and fate just as much as we do today. In fact, the Fates were three sister deities, and the incarnations of destiny and life. One sister allows a child to be born, another measures out how long their life will last, and decides how their life will play out, and the third decides when and how the human will die (The Fates). Considering how the Fates are constructed, Dodds’ argument is rendered
inaccurate.
Despite the fact that Oedipus is unaware that his mother is Jocasta, and his father is Laius, who he killed, he cannot avoid his destiny which states that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Not only this, but Dodds’ opinion on this theory is controversial, and while he considers the theory that the theme of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex that Oedipus has no free will is “anachronistic”, the idea of fate was extremely well-known among the Greek during the time of Sophocles. Thus there is no doubt that Oedipus could not escape the predictions of the oracle given to him. Oedipus carries out every portion of his predetermined fate, despite his ignorance and Jocasta’s many attempts to stop the prophecy from coming true. This is unavoidable, as Oedipus kills Laius, whilst unaware of the fact that he is his father. Oedipus is also separated from his mother, but fate brings the two back together, and they end up getting married. Evidently, Oedipus has no free will, and he can not control his prophecy, as this was all done unknowingly. Now we know why bad things may seem to always happen to good people; every detail of our lives are determined before they even occur.