Sophocles

A detailed Summary of Sophocles

"It lies not in our power to love or hate, for will in us is over-ruled by fate." (Marlowe) If one believes in fate, then essentially that individual understands that often times humans mistakenly believe that they can alter or evade fate. The interplay between fate and blindness as illustrated in the two plays "Oedipus the King" and "Oedipus at Colonius" by Sophocles demonstrates the close connection between the two themes. The main character Oedipus epitomizes that human misconception; in his emotional blindness he attempts to alter his fate preordained by the gods and yet suffers as his destiny dictates. Through out the two plays fate and blindness emerge as important elements and in the end the author illustrates that the two significantly intertwine.

To begin, Sophocles cleverly utilizes irony to illustrate the essential theme of fate. The main character Oedipus encounters a dilemma when he learns from the Oracle at Delphi that it was his destiny to kill his father and marry his mother. As a result, in his human nescience, Oedipus in vain devices a strategy in which to evade such an ill-fate. Consequentially, Oedipus does not acknowledge that fate exists as a force in which all the loose ends will come together in order for

illustrates fate's indomitable quality by contrasting it to the human's misplaced pride which boast that humans master their own destiny as illustrated by Jocasta's words when she brags to Oedipus about how she escaped fate, " There's nothing certain, nothing preordained we should live as carefree as we may." (pg.52)

At first Oedipus laments about the curse of physical blindness, "Wicked, Wicked eyes..You shall not see me nor my crime not see my present shame. Go dark for all time blind to what you should have never seen and blind to the love this heart has cried to see." (pg. 70) Yet it took the act of digging up his sockets in order for the clearer picture to come "at last blazingly clear" (pg. 64) and in turn rot out his ignorance and pride. The author shows that as outward darkness engulfed Oedipus, his insight became clearer and he successfully predicted the war that breaks out between his two sons Polyneices and Eteocles and their imminent death. Also towards the end a wiser Oedipus accepts fate's most dreaded force, death, a "predestined end from which there is no turning." (pg. 169)

the fulfillment of a prophecy. In the plays, fate acts as the master and regardless of the efforts of the characters, they unwillingly became participants in the tangled web of fate. In an effort to flee from his predestine course, Oedipus runs away from those he believed to be his parents. He killed a stranger on the road; but there was no escape for Oedipus, as fate would

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jocasta Laius, Polyneices Eteocles, Colonius Sophocles, Finally Oedipus, Consequentially Oedipus, Wicked Wicked, , Furthermore Sophocles, King Thebes, Oracle Delphi, fate blindness, physical blindness, main character oedipus, evade fate, alter fate, plays fate, oedipus accepts, insight perception, emotional blindness, character oedipus, reader observes,

Approximate Word count = 994
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English