Oedipus and Fate

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the story of "Oedipus" and the struggle that the character Oedipus encountered between fate and his own will and determination. The paper shows how the more Oedipus tried to avoid his fate the more it became a reality. The paper also discusses the symbolic reasons that Oedipus blinded himself and the choices that he made in order to punish himself.

From the Paper:

"Oidipous's multiple identities integrated when he struck himself in the eyeballs with a pair of gold-wrought pins. He initiated his own blindness when faced with a dilemma--he couldn't look at his children in the present life and couldn't bear seeing his parents in the afterlife. In an attempt to escape the realities of grief and despair he could have killed himself but instead he chose blindness. This way he could stay alive, not have to see his children, and still evade seeing his parents in the afterlife. In lines 1322-1323 one might interpret that Oidipous experienced a significant milestone by inflicting his own blindness. "But the murderous hand that struck me was no one's but my own..." At this point he comes to the realization that God did not inflict this pain upon him--he struck his own eyes on his own accord. He demonstrates that he is able to confront his misfortunes and be a peace with God; therefore, the two conflicting axes are fate and man's will. Throughout the literature these two axes are directly related--constantly interchanging with one another."

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• Comparison Essay # 90234 : "Oedipus and Hamlet"

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