Destiny

Oedipius Rex is a twisted story about a boy who kills his father and marries his mother despite being told his future. The entire story revolves around prophecy. This story brings up the question: can you change your destiny?

When you look at the story of Oedipus, the whole reason he was given the opportunity to kill his true father is because he left his home, Corinth, to avoid killing his father.  At that moment he planned to leave and choose his own life by denying his destiny. As you progress through the story, Oedipus is faced with another choice. He meets strangers while he is traveling to Phebes (his original hometown). During this encounter, he is infuriated and rashly murders all the strangers except for one who escaped. Unknowingly, Oedipus continues on his travels and marries the Queen of Phebes. Together they have several sons and daughters. Soon, Oedipus finds out that he was truly the one who killed his father. 

At first, he denies this truth and further investigates. Despite everything he had done, Oedipus continues to search for answers. He reveals his past murder to the queen, who then realizes the  horrific truth, and continues his search for understanding. Once he discovers the truth, Oedipus tears his own eyes out and exiles himself.

Referring back to the question (can you change your destiny?), is it possible that if no one knew the prophecy that the whole situation could have been avoided? If the King of Phebes had not known the prophecy, he would not have any need to order his servant to kill his son. Again, if Oedipus had not heard the same prophecy, he would not have left Corinth. Therefore, this would have avoid the entire story of Oedipus, because he would not have encountered his real father. 

In our lives, can we change our own destiny? Personally, I believe the only true destiny that we can count on and truly anticipate is death. Since the beginning of life, people has been creating their own destinies or at least putting twist on them. Jesus for example, was supposed to be the Messiah born into riches and of high class with lots of wealth. Jesus was supposed to come in as this great power with and bring a lot of religion changes. Surprisingly enough, he came in through a lower class family. He was born in a manger and suffered a horrid death. Despite what the pharisees expected, the Messiah did come and die but just not how they expected and Jesus did choose the lifestyle of a lower class citizen. 

In conclusion, destiny can be altered but the final outcome cannot be changed.