The True Antagonist In Oedipus The King

“Antagonist: One who contends with another in an athletic contest, a battle, or struggle for the mastery; an opponent, an adversary” (Merriam Webster). While the definition of an antagonist is simple, identifying antagonists in literary works can often be a challenge. Sometimes the antagonist is obvious, such as Nils Krogstad from The Doll’s House. Other times the protagonist is the villain while the antagonist is the hero, as Macbeth and Macduff in Macbeth. Furthermore, sometimes the antagonist is an abstract figure or idea, such as society in The Stranger. Such is the case in the Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles. In this play, while solving the mystery of the prior king’ murder, King Oedipus brings about his own doom in the process. Even though Oedipus leads himself to misery, the true antagonist of the play is fate because destiny itself played the biggest role of bringing agony to Oedipus and his family.
Fate is the antagonist in Oedipus Rex because it fits the definition of an antagonist.
An antagonist is the one who is against the protagonist and always obstructs the actions and plans of the protagonist. In Oedipus Rex, when he finds out his future from Apollo, Oedipus runs away from Corinth in order to avoid his fate of killing his father and sleeping with his mother: “Hearing this I fled from Corinth…to a land where I would never fulfill the evil that the oracle forecast” (Sophocles Act 2 Page 10). However fate acted against Oedipus and he soon found out that his parents had adopted him as a child. In the play, Oedipus tries many times to avoid his destiny. However every time he tries to change his future, fate responds by strengthening the same future he wants to avoid. Thus by the definition, fate is the antagonist in Oedipus
Rex. The antagonist is the one that brings the pain or troubles to the protagonist. In Oedipus Rex, fate had bound Oedipus to a life of misery and suffering. Oedipus was already predestined to kill his father and marry his mother even if he tried his best to avoid it. Fate is responsible not only for Oedipus’s actions but also for the events to lead up to his downfall: “Invisible power, you have pulled me down” (Sophocles Act 5 Page 2). If it had not been for fate, Oedipus might have had a chance to avoid his destiny. This idea has been debated heavily upon in our society. Does man have a choice to create his own future or is his future already written by fate? Most agree today that man does have the power to shape his future. However, most also agree that the futures of fictional characters are indeed already written. Oedipus does not have a choice to fulfill his destiny because the play writer, Sophocles, has already his fate. Even though the idea of power over one’s future will always be debated upon by the scholars, fate acts as an antagonist in this play by placing misery and grief into Oedipus’s life. Another reason why fate is the antagonist in Oedipus Rex is that the characters in the play openly protest against and oppose fate. It can be clear who the antagonist is when the main characters show joy when the plans of their enemies go astray. In act three of Oedipus Rex, Jocasta, the wife and mother of Oedipus, finds out that the adopted father of Oedipus is dead. Jocasta believes that if Oedipus did not kill his father and fulfill his destiny, then what chance is there that the other part of his fate be realized: “Oh, oracles of the gods where are you now? Oedipus has been afraid of the old man and avoided him so as not to kill him. Now the old man has died by his destiny and not by Oedipus” (Sophocles Act 3 Page 2). By rejoicing in the failure of fate, Jocasta clearly points out that the true antagonist is fate. Even though many argue that Oedipus brought misery to himself, the true antagonist is fate in Oedipus Rex. Many can also argue that the gods are to blame in this play. By revealing the future to Oedipus and his parents, the gods drastically altered the future. If they didn’t know about their future, Oedipus and his parents would have never acted in the ways they did. Even if Oedipus ends up killing his father and marrying his mother, nobody would have known because no such future for Oedipus has been told. Most of the play is based on the future that the oracle had said. The plot is more of proving that future to be true than of finding the murderer of the previous king in order to save the city. Even though the gods can be blamed for the events that fell upon Oedipus, fate and destiny not only fit the definition of an antagonist but also is the direct cause of Oedipus’s suffering and grief.