This essay examines two central themes in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex: the tension between fate and free will, and the symbolic functions of sight and blindness. The first section argues that Oedipus is neither a pure puppet of fate nor a fully autonomous agent, but rather that his free choices consistently propel him toward the very destiny he seeks to escape. The second section explores how physical sight and blindness operate as symbols throughout the play, contrasting Oedipus with the blind prophet Teiresias and tracing Oedipus' transformation from a physically sighted but spiritually blind king to a man who blinds himself as a dramatic and symbolic act of self-punishment.
The oracles had prophesied that Oedipus would kill his father and beget children by his mother. Is Oedipus therefore made to do these things? Is the play premised on the notion that Oedipus is bound or free — the puppet of fate or the creator of his own destiny? Or some combination of each?
Oedipus' actions throughout the play oscillate around the tension between fate and free will. Both Oedipus and his birth parents, for example, attempt to escape the prophecy. As a baby, Oedipus is left in the hills to die in order to ensure that he never fulfills it. This is a choice made through the free will of his mother. Oedipus is, however, saved and raised by a different family — an event beyond the control of any individual will, and therefore the work of fate. Yet his mother chooses not to verify that he has in fact died and simply assumes that he no longer lives. That Oedipus survives is therefore not only the result of fate but also of free will. This combination of fate and free will follows Oedipus throughout the play.
Oedipus chooses to flee his fate by leaving his parental home — an act of free will. It is dramatically ironic, however, that by this very attempt to flee, he fulfills the prophecy. While he freely chooses to leave his home, he does so without knowing that the people who raised him are not in fact his birth parents. They, in turn, have chosen not to tell him the story of his abandonment and survival as an infant. Had they done so, they might have averted the disaster. What his adoptive parents choose to do is beyond Oedipus' control and can therefore be viewed as fate from his point of view — there was nothing he could have done to change it. Furthermore, it appears that Oedipus' very exercise of free will moves him closer to the fate dictated by the prophecy.
It is notable that Oedipus refuses to be a victim of his fate. Instead of letting events rule him, he continually attempts to rule — not only in his capacity as king, but also in terms of what he personally believes to be right. Despite continuous warnings from the prophet Teiresias and the Chorus, Oedipus relentlessly searches for the truth until he finds it. He does so fearlessly, but pays the price in the end. In this, Teiresias' words prove unintentionally prophetic: "Alas, alas! How dreadful it can be / to have wisdom when it brings no benefit / to the man possessing it" (l. 374–376). Indeed, Oedipus loses all his benefits once he gains insight into the truth.
Nonetheless, right up to the end he makes conscious choices according to what he believes to be right. At the close of the play, Oedipus recognizes that the prophecy he tried so desperately to avoid has been fulfilled by his own actions. Believing that he deserves punishment and unable to bear the truth, he chooses to blind himself. This act of free will crowns the intertwining of fate and free will throughout the play. While the play indicates that Oedipus would have fulfilled the prophecy regardless of what he chose to do, it is equally true that Oedipus chooses how he responds to the fate that belongs to him.
The physical conditions of sight and blindness in the play serve symbolic functions, particularly as they manifest in Oedipus himself. Oedipus begins the play physically sighted but blind in terms of knowledge. He does not know the whole truth about his heritage, nor does he make the connection between the murder of Jocasta's husband, his subsequent marriage to her, and the prophecy he is trying to avoid. In this way, he is mentally blind to the truth of his situation. The motif of sight and blindness thus operates on both a literal and a deeply symbolic level throughout the tragedy.
"Sighted king versus blind prophet's wisdom"
"Self-blinding as symbolic tragic culmination"
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