which characters know himself best- Achilles or Oedipus

Though a mere puppet controlled by fate , Oedipus was able to exercise his own freewill . He was a man crushed by the gods and fate for now good reason - to which he so lamented on . Free will and predestination played a major role on the existence of Oedipus . These two led him of a better understanding of himself and on what he wanted

Achilles , though fortunate to know his origins , was in a sense barbaric responding only to the provocations of his opponents . Upon his disagreement with Agamemnon , he responded with rebellion by

leaving the assembly and threatening to leave together with his men . Upon the death of Patroclus , he fought and mercilessly killed Hector in revenge . He mercilessly dragged Hector around like an animal just because he wanted to avenge Patroclus . He had , in other words , responded to the instinctive tendencies of man ' He had no deeper understanding and ideology of what was humane . He had to be told on the rightful thing to be done . To reiterate , when Phoenix (an older man who belonged to Achilles ' household and one of the ambassadors sent by Agamemnon ) plead him to go back to return to the assembly , Achilles withdrew his threat to leave the following day . Another example was when King Priam of Troy begged for the body of Hector . This was when Achilles realized that his father , who was also an old man , will never see him again based on the prophecy . His compassion for the old man made Achilles decide on releasing the body of Hector - so that Priam might see the body of his son . Achilles was a brave man , the greatest warrior but his decisions and actions were both based merely on winning ' and not achieving his ideals

Meanwhile , Oedipus had ideals . When a person has...