User:Atcovi/ENG225/Order or Chaos? - Discussion Board Five

First, let's talk about how much control poor poor Oedipus had over the events that befell him. What do you think? Among scholars there are three popular interpretations centered around Hamartia:

''Was Oedipus's downfall just a mistake? Bad luck? Was all of this some mistake that could have been prevented?''

Was this Oedipus's fault? Does he posses what's called a "tragic flaw"? The Greek word is hamartia, meaning "to err" or "miss the mark." Meaning, is there something about his character (like his ego or hubris) that caused all of this to take place? Or was Oedipus nothing more than a pawn in a game already planned (and won) by the gods. Was his life, then, a "tragedy of fate," in which a man is brought down by his own destiny that was preordained by the gods? As always, when you answer please give specific evidence from the text to support your interpretation. To receive full credit, you must support your answer with at least ONE QUOTE from the text.

Next, let's talk about you. How do you feel about fate or destiny? Do you have free-will? Do you believe that you are "destined" to do certain things or meet certain people in your life? And if so, doesn't that mean you don't have any free-will and that someone (or something) else has planned this already? If we have no control, is that comforting or pointless?

Initial post due Friday, Sept 29 by 11:59PM

Response

 * 1) This is definitely something that is subjected to multiple interpretations - all that may be correct. I believe that this is something where the "Gods'" wills were more of predictions laid out for a subject that they knew was going to take the steps to fulfill the promise in the end. For example, I believe Oedipus has a nasty ego. On page 502, Kreon queries why Oedipus isn't backing his claims with evidence - to which Oedipus says he "reason[s] in my [his] own interest" (page 502). Even if Oedipus is wrong in his claims [hypothetically, as posed by Kreon], Oedipus' intransigence is evident in his response: "I still must rule" (page 502). He follows through with the decree of the "Gods", as he "fled to somewhere I'd never see outrages like those the God promised, happen to me" willingly, but unknowing to him, he arrives in the very place the "Gods" said he'd end up in (page 506). All these actions Oedipus takes are completely within his free will, but so happen to fall into the "Gods" promises. If I say a student who does not care about school & remains adamant about not doing any schoolwork will fail his classes, that is not me stripping his free will - but decreeing something that I know will happen based on their actions.
 * 2) I believe I have a will that is linked with God's decree. I do think I am destined to do everything I do, but that is based on my own inhibition and actions. I do not believe that this means I do not have "free-will" and I cannot be held accountable for my deeds, but this means that my actions that I ultimately take have been decreed due to the All-Knowing's knowledge on my inhibitions that I take on based on my 'morality compass', so to say. If we have no control over our lives, I wouldn't see the point in living.