Oedipus's path through life is controlled by fate. His queen, Jocasta (who is really his mother), heard from her now-deceased husband, Laius, that their child would grow up to slay his father and marry his mother. To prevent this fate, Jocasta and Laius abandoned their child when he was young. However, fate is decreed by the gods and cannot be averted or avoided though free will or any action taken by humans.
Oedipus, who was...
Oedipus's path through life is controlled by fate. His queen, Jocasta (who is really his mother), heard from her now-deceased husband, Laius, that their child would grow up to slay his father and marry his mother. To prevent this fate, Jocasta and Laius abandoned their child when he was young. However, fate is decreed by the gods and cannot be averted or avoided though free will or any action taken by humans.
Oedipus, who was raised by another couple, also hears of his fate (that he will kill his father and marry his mother) from the oracle of Apollo. Not believing the oracle, he murders a man on the way to Thebes at the crossing of three roads. The man he murders turns out to be his father, Laius, though Oedipus does not know this. Oedipus goes on to marry Jocasta, also not knowing that she is his mother. When a servant arrives at the court to tell Oedipus and Jocasta that Oedipus was an orphan who was brought to his adoptive parents from the court of Laius, Oedipus and Jocasta realize that Oedipus's fate has come true was inevitable. Jocasta kills herself in response, and Oedipus blinds himself. Luck has nothing to do with Oedipus's outcome, as his entire destiny has been ordained. There is no element of chance. In addition, karma, or earning one's fate, is not relevant. Instead, Oedipus's fate was decreed at birth, and it is not a result of his actions. He has not earned his outcome; instead, it is his fate.
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