Both Oedipus Rex by Sophocles and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare display certain characteristics towards their fortune tellers that eventually lead to their downfall. Both Oedipus and Julius decided to ignore their fortune tellers because of their powers Oedipus hears his fate by his fortune teller by the name of Tiresias, on the other hand Julius hears his fate from his fortune teller by the name of The Soothsayer Both Oedipus and Julius were warned about their fates although Oedipus acted like Tiresias was working with Creon to get Oedipus off the throne Oedipus constantly questioned Tiresias about this information and confronted Creon and Jocasta about it. Oedipus talked to Tiresias to get information on who murdered King Laois.
Tiresias kept on refusing to tell him because he warned him that it could change his destiny “I say that you are the murderer whom you ask” . Oedipus was told by Tiresias regarding his fate but he refused to accept it and thought he was all mighty and powerful, Similar to Oedipus in that Julius Caesar hears about his fate but refused to accept it. The soothsayer talks to Julius and tells him to beware, “Beware of the Ides of March” Julius acts like nothing it going on and completely ignores the soothsayer and continues on with his day. On the Ides of March which translates to the 15: of March Julius talks to the senators and gets killed. Julius Caesar was warned about his fate just like Oedipus but they both refused to accept and it thus leading to their downfall Julius Caesar and Oedipus Rex were warned by one of their people to be cautious about how they plan on going after the truth.
In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus was determined on finding that truth after receiving information from Tiresias. Jocasta constantly warned him not to pursue the truth because she knew that it could alter his destiny as the ruler and could potentially ruin his reputation. Oedipus later hears new information from J ocasta about a man who cared for him while he was still a baby. “Anything- Though I dread to hear you ask it” (pg 40). Jocasta says this because she doesn’t want Oedipus digging too deep into the truth. Similar to Oedipus, Julius Caesar gets warned by his wife Calpurnia to not do anything that could put him into danger. The night before Julius dies Calpurnia has a dream that there is a statue of Julius Caesar with one hundred spouts squirting out blood and happy romans bathing their hands in it. Calpurnia feels worried and tells Julius to stay inside the house. “You shall not stir out of your house today”.
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Calpurnia says this because she feels like something terribly wrong will happen to Julius if he leaves the house, Julius ignores this and acts like it is nonsense. Later that day, he talked to the senators on the 15″ of March and was killed Julius Caesar died on the 15‘ of March after hearing from Calpurnia that something terrible will happen and that he should stay inside the house Both Oedipus and Julius were warned by their wives not to try and do something that will lead to their downfall, but none of them listened. Julius Caesar and Oedipus rex eventually find out that their fortune tellers were right. When Oedipus is talking to the man that cared for him when he was young, he finds out that Tiresias was correct in that Oedipus himself murdered King Laois. He also finds out that King Laois was his father and Jocasta was his mother, Jocasta realizes this mistake and kills herself due to the embarrassment.
Oedipus receives anagnorisis because he realizes his mistake and attempts to fix it by gouging out his own eyes When Oedipus finds out that Tiresias was right all along he regrets acting the way he did and he is automatically removed from the throne and Creon was said to be the new ruler Oedipus‘s downfall was due to the fact that Tiresias told him his fate but Oedipus refused to accept it because he thought he was too powerful for such an absurd thing to happen. Oedipus was exiled and was no longer able to return to the city of Thebes. Similarly to Oedipus Rex, Julius Caesar faces a different approach in finding out that the Soothsayer was correct all along.
On the day of March 15“ Julius Caesar was killed by his conspirators because they thought he was a plague to the state, Julius realizes that the Soothsayer and Calpurnia were right in that he should beware of the Ides of March and that he should not leave his house today due to Calpurnia’s dreamt Julius faces a bigger realization because he was killed after hearing his fate while Oedipus was just exiled. Both are terrible although if Julius would have never stepped outside his house and listened to Calpurnia and the Soothsayer his death would have never occurred, The same theory applies to Oedipus, if he listened to Jocasta and Tiresias and did not dig into the truth too much then his downfall would have never occurred and Jocasta would have never killed herself.
Fate is a constant theme in both stories and it is illustrated in a way that shows that no matter how powerful someone is, fate happens to everyone and cannot be avoided. Both Oedipus and Julius Caesar thought they were powerful men and nothing could happen to them yet their fate still led to their downfall. Oedipus realizes the truth about the murder of King Laois while Julius realizes that the soothsayer was right in telling him to beware of the ides of March, Both leaders experienced anagnorisis because they both realized their mistake and how it led to their downfall Oedipus Rex and Julius Caesar are similar in that they both experienced the wrong kind of fate that led to their downfall.
