Blog #1 Response: Eric Blonigen

I don't think we are "fated," at least, not in the way Sophocles portrays it. While I concede that there are many conditions, obstacles, and advantages which are given in a basically random fashion, beyond that, one always has some sort of choice. Nothing is stopping you from doing something out of left-field and mucking things up. Short of arguing the non-existence of free will, it seems pretty clear that people have a tendency of acting in ways that cannot, and probably will not, be predicted exactly.

Oedipus, on the other hand, lives in a land of perfect prophecies. If the gods will it, it will be so. This means that whatever Oedipus does, and no matter how different the rest of his life becomes from choosing this or that, Oedipus will always kill his dad and wed his mom. This is the sole constant, as it is what the oracles have foreseen. Thankfully for us, whatever higher power(s) govern our world have decided to take a distinctly hands-off approach. And so we are free to choose.

However, I could be wrong, but in the end, even if I only think I have free choice, without my future being told to me, what's the difference.