The ancient Greeks were convinced that the gods knew
everything that would happen in the future. The Fates carried out the plans of Zeus by
drawing lots and tying the resulting allotments into threads of life for each mortal.
These threads are woven together and knotted at different points in different ways. At
death, this fabric of life is cut off. Thus, the fate of Oedipus Rex is set despite his
parents' attempt to kill him and despite his leaving his home after the prediction of
the oracle so that he would not kill his father.
In
preparing your support for your essay, you should have no trouble in locating your
"evidence." Let your focus be in the how the evidence of Oedipus's fate emerges
as Oedipus in his fateful kindness to the people of Thebes attempts to learn the reason
and the cause of the curse upon Thebes. When Tieresias refuses to tell Oedipus the
truth in an attempt to spare Oedipus disgrace, the king insists and brings about his own
demise: "What troubles could prevent your hunting down the killers?" he asks in great
dramatic irony.
As Oedipus continues his efforts to learn
the truth that he hopes will remove the curse from Thebes, he becomes angry with the
priest and with his wife's brother Creon who strive to withhold his fate from him.
Thus, his hubris becomes his nemesis. His act comes from the
threads of his life that have lead him to his fate; and, Oedipus's fate is sealed by his
proud insistence upon the truth. This truth is the fact that, despite all his efforts,
he has killed his father Laius and married his mother, Jocasta--exactly what the oracle
has predicted.
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