Introduction: In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, the protagonist Oedipus is responsible for his destiny.

. English poet William Ernest Henley wrote a poem Invictus where he says I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Oedipus was indeed the master of his fate and the captain of his soul He should be held accountable for his actions and therefore be severely punished for his sins BP #1: Oedipus is not innocent for his actions and does in fact bear the responsibility for the outcomes that his actions have caused him to endure. In greek mythology, the future of someone is usually predetermined by the gods and deities. The role of prophecy is very important in greek mythology and it mimics the beliefs of people who believed that fate and destiny could not be avoided. Because ones fate is already predetermined, Oedipus could not have escaped the prophecy of the oracle Teiresias. Although Oedipus cannot control what his future entails, he can control how he handles his prophecy. Rather than boldly accepting his predetermined fate, Oedipus cowardly tries to run away from his destiny, running to Thebes, away from Polybus and Merope believing he can thwart his destiny. Additionally, when Oedipus meets Teiresias and learns more about his fate, Oedipus calls the oracle a fool and believes that he can thwart his destiny. Oedipuss acts of cowardice and blasphemy led to his downfall and demise. BP#2 Oedipus bears the full responsibility of his destiny because he did not proceed with caution after learning his prophecy. Despite having been warned that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus kills a man, who is old enough to be his father, and his entourage. Oedipus, overcome by hubris for killing the Sphinx and becoming the hero of Thebes, becomes wedded to a woman old enough to be his mother. If Oedipus was not full of pride and took the advice of others, he could have refrained from murdering anyone or marrying anyone. But Oedipus did not respect the prophecy and therefore did not carefully consider the repercussions for his actions. Oedipus brought his fall from grace to himself by his ignorant and careless actions, BP#3: However, it can argued that Oedipus is not responsible for his destiny because he was a victim of outside forces of which he had no control over. For example, he claims he was committing an act of self-defense when he killed the man who turned out to be his father. He also did not know that Iocaste was his mother because he had run away from Merope, who Oedipus believed was his real mother. The aforementioned counter claims are not as strong as the claims that Oedipus is responsible for his demise because Oedipuss assassination of King Laios and his entourage was a fit of road rage. Also, Oedipus could have avoided marrying his mother by abstaining and refraining from any relationships with women. All in all, it is a widely held belief in Greek tradition that you cannot run away from your fate, no matter how cunning or intelligent you are. Conclusion Oedipus is completely responsible for his destiny. He was the master of his fate and the captain of his soul because it was completely within his control how he wanted to handle the prophecy. Instead of boldly accepting the prophecy, Oedipus tried running away from it which is impossible. Ironically, Oedipus tried running away from his prophecy and ended up committing the same acts the prophecy described. Oedipus made the costly mistake of disregarding the prophecy from Teiresias and ended up paying a huge price.