In Sophocles‘ Oedipus Rex, many mishaps and mistakes troubled the character Oedipus. He was a ruler with a kingdom in distress. As a ruler he promised to his people that he would do whatever he could to help them. However, his name of Oedipus nor the decisions he made ever really helped his people. Oedipus was a man cursed with a fate and remarked that the god Apollo brought his sick fate upon him but the blinding hand was his own. Fate took over Oedipus’ life, but free will led to his destruction. Apollo’s curse and the events of Oedipus’ childhood told his fate. Oedipus’ father, Laios, made the god Apollo very angry and in his anger he placed a curse on him and his family. Oedipus’ life had a path before he was even born. He would kill his father and marry his mother, and Apollo would make sure this happened. When he was born Oedipus made no choices with his free will, but had to suffer from the choices his parents made. As Oedipus grew up and matured he made his own decisions with his own free will, whether they were good or bad. Apollo was always guiding Oedipus to his eventual fate, but Oedipus brought himself down by the choices he made. Misfortune and fate were placed on Oedipus, but his very own mistakes led him to that fate. Oedipus would always try his best to help his people. He was a good king that was always ready to lead his people but at the same time serve them and took decisive actions. The murderer of the former King Laios must be banished from the kingdom. Through both fate and free will choices Oedipus found out the true identity of the murderer. Apollo laid out a fate and Oedipus made choices to follow that fate.
Carrico 02 After finding out the truth about the killer actually being Oedipus, his wife, Isocate can no longer bear the pain that the truth brought and she goes into her bedroom and kills herself. Upon finding out that his wife was dead, Oedipus found her body and took the brooches off of her clothing and began to gouge his eyes out. He said that he could no longer look at the misery of his own life. Now being blinded Oedipus was to be banned from Thebes. Oedipus had many flaws. Hubris, anger, and a quick temper were some of them. However, Oedipus was never anything but real and honest about himself. He told his people that it was Apollo’s fault for what had become of his life, but in reality his choices and blindness were no one’s fault but his. It did not matter how well liked he had become, he would never be powerful enough to overcome the results of his bad choices. In anger Oedipus killed a stranger, a choice that would bring him his fate. The choices Oedipus made were those of free will which led to his own blindness and destruction.