Oedipus_The_King

Oedipus The King Essay Test on Oedipus The King In the play Oedipus the King Sophocles achieves a balance between free will and destiny. His balance is shown very clearly in many of the characters of the play, including Jocasta and Oedipus. The passages below explain this balance and show what tactics he used to achieve it. In lines 1090-1092, Oedipus states "Apollo told me once -it is my fate- I must make love with my own mother, shed my father's blood with my own hands." This passage tells of what the gods told Oedipus he would achieve in his life. This is considered fate. But in lines 846-882 Oedipus talks about how he heard that he would kill his father and marry his mother. In turn he chooses freedom and so he leaves so he would not kill his parents, but in effect he is also helping fate run its course. This irony is shown in many parts of the play. Jocasta also contradicts herself in the play. In lines 784-793 she states that when she heard about the curse on their oedipus, fate, play, lines, about, states, sophocles, own, balance, whether, told, tells, shown, show, really, mother, make, life, king, kill, irony, heard, gods, freedom, free, different, control, both, aspects, achieve, years, writing, worry, work