Fate in Oedipus the King by Sophocles
             Among the first thing a historian discovers in his study of early civilization are records
             people's belief, or faith, in powers greater than themselves, and their desire to
             these powers to act. People everywhere wonder about the marvelous things in the sky and
             What makes the rain? How do the plants and animals live and grow and die? Why are some
             and others unlucky? Some believe in free will while others believe in fate or destiny.
             the King by Sophocles, Oedipus was a true victim of fate.
             Gods and goddesses were believed to be responsible for the wonders of science, and the
             of human nature; therefore, according to the facts of this story, Oedipus was a true
             several reasons. Laius and Jocasta, the childless king and queen of Thebes, were told by
             that their son would kill his father and marry his mother (page 56). A son was born to
             tried to make sure that the prophecy would not come true. They drove a metal pin through
             ankles and gave it to a shepherd, with instructions to leave it to die. The shepherd
             so he gave the child to another shepherd. This shepherd gave the baby to a childless
             Corinth, Polybus and Merope. This royal couple named the boy Oedipus, which in its Greek
             Oidipous means "swollen foot." Oedipus was brought up believing that Polybus and Merope
             parents, and Lauis and Jocasta believed that their child was dead and the prophecy of
             Many years later, he was told by a drunk man at a banquet that he was not a true heir of
             (page 55). He then went to the oracle of Apollo, to ask the god who his real parents
             ...