Analysis Of Freewill In Oedipus The King - 933 Words

Artur Irgaliyev Robert Stephens Moral Knowledge November 5 2017 Freewill in Oedipus the King Determinists believe that every event of our life is strictly determined by a preceding event. This order follows until the sequence of events dates back before our birth, thus, beyond the notion of oneself as an individual. From this theory, one could argue that there could never be an attribution of responsibility to individuals since they cannot be held responsible for events dating before their birth. At the end of Oedipus the King written by Sophocles, Oedipus attributes full responsibility for his wrongdoings and stabs his eyes out and â€Å"with it the memory of [his] sorrow† (Sophocles 74). Oedipus is a literary archetype known as the†¦show more content†¦Of course, the prophecy foretold of his incestual marriage and brutal homicide, however, the actions based off proximate causes of his true nature led to his banishment from Thebes and the mutilation of his own body. The totality of his personality traits resulted in him taking fu ll responsibility of his actions and concluding the play in accordance to the tragic hero archetype by showing his desire of justice and fairness. Hume improves on this definition of soft-determinism by adding the aspect of external coercion as a prerequisite in defining what is a free action and what is not. Had the proximate causes been other than his desire for justice and retribution but rather the decision of the olympian gods to mutilate the eyes of those who were the perpetrators of the murder, then the tragic hero is absolved from responsibility of his self-mutilating action. However, this is not mentioned by the gods who clearly set forth banishment or retribution with blood as the required punishment. Interestingly enough, Sophocles does mention a traditional ancient-greek view of fate decided by the gods through the words of