Oedipus Case

In the play Oedipus The King, Oedipus's fate, was to marry his mother Jocasta and murder his father Laius. Laius, however, seemed to not believe in fate. Out of free will, he continued on to bore a son with Jocasta. Once that son was born, Laius pinned together his ankles so that he could not crawl, then he was given away to a servant in an attempt to prevent the fulfillment of the Oracle's prophecy. Although Oedipus was a victim of fate, he was not controlled by it. His fate, as warned by the Oracle of Apollo was unconditional and inevitably would come to pass, no matter what he may have done to avoid it. His past actions before he became king were entirely fate, but what he did in Thebes was based on his own free will. From the beginning of this tragedy, Oedipus took many actions leading to his own downfall. Oedipus could have waited for the plague to end, but out of compassion for his suffering people, he had Creon go to Delphi. When he learned of Apollo's word, he could have calmly investigated the murder of the former King Laius, but in his hastiness, he passionately curses the murderer, and in so, unknowingly curses himself. "Upon the murderer I invoke this curse -- whether he is one man and all unknown, or one of many -- may he wear out his life in misery or doom! If with my knowledge he lives at my hearth, I pray that I myself may feel my curse." Oedipus used free will to make his own decisions. He wanted to make his own fate, not have somebody else control him. He was fully responsible of his own actions that almost cost him his life, and led to his exile in Thebes. With fate, sometimes things happen without you controlling it. But with free will, you can make your own decisions, and if you make a bad decision, you will suffer the consequences.