Can destiny be avoided

             Many conflicts occur in daily society: between two people, among groups of people, and sometimes between people and their destiny. The most interesting aspect of Oedipus Rex is the conflicts it contains throughout the play: "Oedipus Rex is a tragedy of destiny" (Dodds 17). There are many conflicts that occur in the play Oedipus Rex; the three most crucial occur between Laius and Jocaste and the gods, between Oedipus and his destiny, and finally between good and evil.
             Oedipus Rex presents many conflicts, but the first occurs between Laius and Jocaste and the gods. Laius and Jocaste disobey the gods by marrying one another. The result of the disobedience leads to a child who later kills his father and marries his mother. After the child is born, Laius and Jocaste, King and Queen of Thebes, give the three-day-old infant to a shepherd and instructs the shepherd to kill the child. This is an attempt to avoid the curse that is pronounced on them by the gods. Sigmund Freud states that the tragedy "lies in the contrast between the supreme will of the gods and the vain attempts of mankind to escape the evil that threatens them" (102). By arranging for the child's death, Laius and Jocaste hope that the
             conflict between them and the gods will disappear. The shepherd feels pity for the baby and gives it to another
             shepherd in hopes that he will take the child to a distant land. The child is given to King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth, and they name him Oedipus.
             The second conflict occurs when Oedipus discovers his destiny. He learns from the Delphic oracle that his destiny is to kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus does not want this to happen; "like his real father, Laius, Oedipus attempted to avoid his fate" (Feder 295). Oedipus does not know that King Polybus is not his real father, so he leaves Corinth to avoid his destiny. On
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