Free Will in "Oedipus" Analytical Essay by Master Writers

The paper discusses how the works of the ancient Greek playwrights are difficult for us to read within the context of the 21st century because most people today believe in the validity of the idea of free will. It shows the difficulty to square such an almost inherited insistence on the importance and sovereignty of free will with the idea of fate that runs so deeply through classical drama. The paper argues that a closer reading of classical texts demonstrates that perhaps the classical Greeks were not so different in their understandings of human nature as we ourselves are. By examining Sophocles' treatment of the story of "Oedipus", the paper examines the fact that the Greek's insistence on the importance of fate is in fact not so very different from our own understanding of personal responsibility.