Meditation 5 – The Fate of Oedipus Rex

In reading Oedipus Rex, I realized that although there are action points throughout the play that drive the plot forward, there is no clearly established antagonist. In other tragedies like Shakespeare’s Othello there is a certain character that causes problems and initiates the conflict with the protagonist (Iago). However, in Oedipus Rex, there is no such character. One would suspect Oedipus were the antagonist due to all the crimes he commits; but I did not feel like he was the villain of the story. The audience is able to sympathize with Oedipus’ character despite the fact that he is a criminal. This made me believe that perhaps it is Oedipus’ fate alone that stirs up the action of the play.

Fate seems to play such an important role in the play because it is what sets the whole story into motion. Before the prophecy of Oedipus’ future had been told the family was fine. Therefore the first conflict in the story arises as a result of the foretelling of the prince’s fate. In addition to opening the drama of the play (pun intended) fate also keeps the plot moving and exciting. Almost the entire plot is based around Oedipus trying desperately to control or refute his own fate. However conflict arises because Oedipus’ own knowledge of his fate essentially makes him predisposed to fulfill it. One could say that his fate was consummated as a result of his own desire to defy it; therefore supporting the idea that it was a result of his fate itself that Oedipus succumbed to his heinous destiny. (In other words, if he had not left home to escape his destiny of killing (who he thought were) his parents, he never would have encountered and killed King Laius.) Also, the audience is interested in the story because they wish to witness how the opening divination plays out in the end – if it is fulfilled, defied or refuted.

In the end, the prophecy of Oedipus’ fate is proven to be self-fulfilled. The play ends with Oedipus being both the criminal and hero who struggled against his own destiny. Fundamentally it is the knowledge of his own fate that drove him to exile and serves as the theatrical device that creates conflict in the play. All in all, there was no need for Sophocles to use an individual as an antagonist in his play – destiny and the concept of fate that essentially drive the main character to failure