Manpreet Singh
Mr. St. Clair
ENG4U-Q
March 20th 2016
Predestined Fate vs. Random Chance

In the story of Oedipus the King, fate and justice are truly envisioned through the higher powers rather than random luck/chance. The idea of fate and justice is quite significant in the play as each character questions their destiny on the basis of it. Oedipus fits a perfect description of this theme as he illustrates the role of a tragic hero. He is considered to be a well-respected and honourable king at the beginning of the play but as the plot progresses, he encounters his downfall and discovers that he in fact took his father’s life, Laius, while sleeping with his own mother, Jocasta. One of the reasons why the characters don’t believe in a higher power is because they feel a doubt of their existence when their wishes aren’t fulfilled. For example when Jocasta says, “O oracles of the Gods, where are you now?” (Sophocles, 1068). When she hears the news about Polybus’ death, she starts doubting the prophecies of god, even though she was praying for her city’s freedom from plague a while ago. Another issue that characters encounter with fate is that they believe it can be reciprocated in some way. In Oedipus’ case, after finding truth about his parentage, he decides to leave Corinth hoping his fate doesn’t come true. But fate and justice being controlled by high powers is caught up to Oedipus and he unknowingly kills his father on his way to Thebes. Oedipus blames for his fate to be controlled by higher powers when he says, “It was Apollo, friends, Apollo, that brought this bitter bitterness, my sorrows to completion” (Sophocles, 1517-1518). He indeed admits that the higher powers have ruined his life by proving his fate and justice to be just what was anticipated. He went from a king who was looked up to, to a distressing man who has been banished by Creon from