Modern-Day Relevance
Oedipus the king
Oedipus the king is common text used for literature by students. The book aims to explore the theme of fate or predetermined destiny (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). The text also seeks to elaborate to readers the idea of fate being a driving force behind the events occurring in everyday life (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). In the book, Oedipus is the protagonist and is informed of his fate before it happens. He does his mighty best to try to change his fate, but he is not successful. He is informed that a grievous curse has been cast upon his territory (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). He sends his brother-in law to seek help from Apollo.
Apollo informs that the curse upon Thebes can be removed if the killer of King Laius is captured and made to pay for his actions (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). In his quest to determine Laius killer, Oedipus discovers that his parents were sent away to prevent the fulfilling of a prophecy made long ago that he would one day kill father Lauis and get betrothed to his mother Jocasta (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). However, no matter how much he tries to avoid fate it eventually came to happen as predicted. He was not killed as it was normally done for murderers, as his mission was not over (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). His fate was sealed, and all predicted upon him was bound to happen. Oedipus story shows us that fate is inescapable (Grene, and Sophocles, 65). One might be lucky to evade it somehow, but it will in one-way come to happen no matter how long it takes (Grene, and Sophocles, 65).
Hamlet play
Hamlet was another classical class reader written by Shakespeare (Shakespeare, 13). The play also aims to elaborate and illustrate the theme of fate. Prince Hamlet, the main character is destined to one day kill his uncle Claudius (Shakespeare, 13). He was going to do this is a form of avenging for his father’s death. Prince Hamlet even keeps acknowledging this fact by saying that, ‘my fate cries out and makes every artery in his body’ (Shakespeare, 13).
Prince Hamlet was made aware of this plan to kill his father in a dream by his father King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet’s death is foreshadowed by his intensified anger and fury over his uncle (Shakespeare, 13). The urge in him to avenge to his father’s death is apparent, and his uncle Claudius is well aware of that. His uncle Claudius tries all he can to avoid death by plotting on how Prince Hamlet is killed. Claudius even attempts to manipulate Laertes to stage Prince Hamlet’s death, but he fails (Shakespeare, 13). Claudius death is fate and nothing he does would stop it. Fate has it also that Hamlet is to die after fulfilling the killing of his uncle Claudius (Shakespeare, 13).
Prince Hamlet succeeds in killing Claudius and Laertes. A while later he also succumbs to a painful wound he got when he was stubbed by Laertes’s poisonous stained blade (Shakespeare, 13). As Hamlet takes his last breath he says, ’let it be’, showing that he had given into fate. Hamlet life was unhappy, not for anything, he had done but because of prophesies made because of mistakes of those who lived before him (Shakespeare, 13). In all the texts, Hamlet and Oedipus the king, characters did their best to avoid fate but were unsuccessful (Shakespeare, 13). All that was meant to take place did so regardless of individual efforts to curtail untoward occurring.
Work cited
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pages 2-34
Shakespeare, William, and Dionís-Bayer M. A. Conejero. Hamlet. Barcelona: Octaedro, 1999. Pages 33-125
David Grene, and Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Pages 12, 23-65
