Fate played an important part in the plays and literature of the Greeks as is shown in Sophocles’ play Sophocles lived during the Golden Age of Greece. He is renowned as one of the greatest dramaticist of western literature. He was a greek through and through as he held important political positions, and he even served as the priest of the haling diety Amynos. During his life tragedies were popular plays of the greeks, and Sophocles noted for his writing abilites of the time, made one such play about tragedy. This play has been the subject of much controversy and has had many diverse things said about it and its meaning. In his play Sophocles uses fate as a major part of it as he tells a story of a man that unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. The greeks highly regarded fate as one of the major aspects of their lives. The greeks believed that their lives had already been planned out before they lived them and that things in their lives were going to happen regardless. Fate played an important part in the literature of the greeks as is shown in Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex. Sophocles uses a form of irony in his play to show fate. According to Maureen Howard, “Dramatic irony, the irony of fate, is the most important element of the play.”(6) According to Bert Cardullo, “Greek tragedy has been called the tragedy of necessity or fate.”(1) This is shown in the play in the way that Sophocles takes a highly respected and wealthy man and by the end of the play he has been stripped down to having nothing. The Oedipus is portrayed is partially debatable as Kimberly Rollins states, “Dodds counters that Sophocles intended us to regard him (Oedipus) as good, noble, and selflessness. But the play would seem to indicate that Oedipus, while a clever man, is not a good one.” (1) This is Mrs. Rollins opinion of the way Oedipus is portrayed and her trying to discredit...
