In the play Oedipus written by Sophocles, fate and the Gods are often to blame for .
If examined closer, however, it seems that with careful, logical .
thinking Oedipus could have saved himself a significant amount of trouble. Throughout .
the play there are choices places before the characters. Choices that ultimately will make .
or break the future of Oedipus. It was not fate that caused the downfall of Oedipus. It .
was the decisions that were made out of haste or pride.
In Oedipus" past we see that even he is aware that he has choice and free will; upon .
learning from an oracle that he will be the murderer of his father and sleep with his .
mother, he flees. He had the choice to talk to his family about the prophecy, but he chose .
to take matters into his own hands and ran. Oedipus" step-father could have told him the .
truth in the beginning, but he chose to keep the fact that Oedipus was adopted to himself. .
This is just the beginning of a whirlwind of bad choices made in the light of haste and .
pride.
"I must bring what is dark to light," (line 134) Oedipus boasts loudly after learning the .
cause of the city's plague. This illustrates the pride, and arrogance that Oedipus portrays. .
This pride blinded him from making a sound decision. When approached by Creon, the .
holder of the news from the oracle, Oedipus has the choice to speak with him in private. .
Instead Oedipus says proudly, "Let them all hear it." "It is for them I suffer more than for .
myself." (line 97). In his rush to impress his crowd, Oedipus has Creon spill the news .
over the entire crowd.
We see that unfortunately, Oedipus is not the only one affected by these bad choices. .
Along Oedipus" path of flight from Corinth, he stumbles on to King Laios and his men. .
The argument over who must cross first heats into a violent battle leaving all but Oedipus .
and one other dead. It has been proclaimed that anger leads to destruction, and so in this .
