In Sophocles' play Oedipus The King, the title character has been given a glimpse of the bleak future that Fate has in store for him. Oedipus refused to accept that this prophecy must become a reality, and fought to ensure that he would not murder his father and sleep with his mother as the Delphi Oracle had predicted. As a young man, Oedipus left Corinth, where he was a prince, in order to protect the King and Queen, Polybus and Merope because he believed that they were his parents. However, unbeknownst to Oedipus, Ploybus and Merope are actually his adoptive parents, and by leaving Corinth for Thebes, he set a chain of events into motion that would guarantee that the Oracle's prophecy would come true. Thus, Sophocles demonstrates that Fate is an unalterable force in the lives of the characters in the play. With the best of intentions, Oedipus attempts to thwart fate, but he ultimately fails. This is because one's fate cannot be changed, no matter how carefully one attempts to do so.
Oedipus leaves Thebes because the Delphi Oracle has prophesized that he will murder his father and sleep with his mother. An intelligent man, Oedipus believes that he removes himself from his parents' home then he will no longer be a danger to them, and Fate's plan for his future will be disrupted. He tells Jocasta, his wife/mother, that he "afled, fled from the dark South where Corinth lay,/To lands far off, where never I might see /My doom of scorn fulfilled" (Sophocles 56). Unfortunately for Oedipus, he has played right into Fate's hands because as he travels away from Corinth, he is harassed by a group of travelers and kills them in self-defense. Oedipus does not realize it at the time, but one of the travelers is Laius, King of Thebes, who is his birth father. Like Oedipus, Laius went to the Oracle, and was told that he would die at his son's hand. He thus sent Oedipus away from Thebes in order to protect himself. Jacosta ...