An examination of human destiny is Sophocles’s Oedipus Trilogy.
Prima facie, human destiny, as ordained by the Gods and fate, is a strong theme that runs right through Sophocles?s Oedipus Trilogy. This paper explains, however, that on closer examination, there could be grounds to build a case that Sophocles was possibly questioning the human tendency towards blind faith, which leads human beings to fulfill prophecies rather than following the dictates of their own individual will.
Right through the three plays of Oedipus The King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, it is evident that the people of ancient Greece consulted the oracles on all their problems and hopes. The very opening scene of the first of the three plays, Oedipus The King, sees Oedipus relying on a message from divine forces to save his kingdom and its people from the ravages of plague: I have sent Menoeceus son,/ Creon, my consort’s brother, to inquire/ Of Pythian Phoebus at his Delphi shrine,/ How I might save the State by act or word.? (Para 3: 12-14) This first consultation, then, sets the note for the tragic events to follow as Creon returns from the oracles with the message that Thebes could only be saved when Laius? killer is found and slain: ?Banishment, or the shedding blood for blood./This stain of blood makes shipwreck of our state.? (Oedipus The King, Para 14) Thus begins the tragedy and travails of Oedipus and his offspring since the message from the oracles compels Oedipus to embark on a determined quest to find Laius? killer, not realizing that Laius had died by his own hands.