The Tragic Cycle of Oedipus: Process Drama Focused on the Conflict Between Free Will and Fate
The ancient Greeks believed that their gods could foresee the future and that prophets or oracles like the blind Teiresias could convey these visions through prophecies. However, by the 5th century BCE, when Sophocles was writing his plays, intellectuals in Athenian society had begun to question the legitimacy of both oracles and traditional gods. This tension is clearly evident in Oedipus Rex, which is based on two prophecies. The first prophecy foretold that Theban King Laius would have a son with Queen Jocasta who would grow up to kill his own father. The second prophecy revealed that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Laius, Jocasta, and Oedipus all try to prevent these prophecies from coming true, but their attempts to do so ironically ensure the prophecies’ fulfillment.
This raises a central question in the play: does Oedipus have any real choice in the matter? In his attempts to avoid these very actions, he unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother. Does he have free will—the ability to choose his own path—or is everything in life predestined?
In this workshop, a process drama based on one of the most important texts in theater history, Oedipus, will be conducted, with a focus on the tragic cycle that Oedipus falls into due to the conflict between free will and fate. Through the exploration of characters, their actions, and relationships, the message of the text will be discussed, and the possibility of events unfolding differently for Oedipus will be questioned through improvisation. In this way, the workshop aims to examine how our cultural predispositions, the way we approach events in daily life, and our ethical principles and moral values influence our interpretations.