Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

In the play, Oedipus Rex written by Sophocles around 430 BC, there appeared to be three major themes. The first prominent theme was the theme of the triumph of Fate or the Gods over free will. Also, the value of humility played an important part in this ancient Greek tragedy. Finally, the Greek belief in oracles and soothsayers, sometimes called prophets, was a well established theme. These themes come together to form one of the most perfect examples of a Greek tragedy. These main themes also prove to be present in other Greek works yet, they were presented best by Sophocles in Oedipus Rex. The first prominent theme was the theme of the triumph of Fate or the Gods over free will. Fate, the presence of the Gods, and the idea of free will all played an important role in Greek tragedy. Many Greeks believed that Fate could not be escaped. What the Gods had in store for a person was going to happen no matter what. Even though many Greeks believed this, many also believed that with their free will, they could escape fate. For example, Oedipus’s true fate was to kill his father and marry his mother. “Apollo once prophesied that I would lie with my own mother and with these hands, kill my father.”