Roles Of Fate : The Importance Of The Fates

What is the idea of destiny in today’s society? How does it compare to Ancient Greece Society? Today, it can be seen as a minor thing, and people don’t think about it. In Ancient Greece, destiny was seen as a major part of their lives, and they even go to great lengths to fulfill their destiny the gods have set. In Sophocles’ work, Oedipus Rex is described as a loyal king, helping the people of Thebes, but once he loses track of his mission, his arrogance to follow the will of fate brings his downfall.

In mythology gods and goddess lives are determined by fate. When they are born their destiny is already set and it can't be altered. In a most mythical stories the god or goddess attempts to change their fortune. Brave the Disney movie is about a princess, Merida striving to modify her fate. She encounters a witch that refines her fate, but the end result was unexpected. Later on she realizes her fate has become a curse upon her mother and it must be undone. Fate controlled Meridas

Athena says, “Yes try the suitors. You may collect a few more loaves, and learn who are the decent lads, and who are the vicious- although not one can be excused from death!” (Homer 322). Athena shows that the will of the gods controls one’s fate because she alleged that all of the suitors would succumb to Odysseus and die. The supreme powers control mortals to reach the conclusions they desire. This is exposed with Zeus’ conversation with Athena. “O’ Father of us all and king of kings, enlighten me. What is your secret will? War and battle, worse and more of it, or can you not impose a pact on both?” (Homer 459). The fate of Ithaka rests on Zeus’ shoulders. He decides to sojourns the violence, and consents Odysseus to return to the true king. To change the will of the gods, one needs to appease them. To gain the gods’ favor, mortals regularly make sacrifices to them. Offending the gods creates vast consequences. This is demonstrated with Poseidon’s wrath towards Odysseus. Mortals to no prevail can avoid fate. This is bared with the Phaiakians. They could not have eluded their fate of a ship turning to stone. “If we gave safe conveyance to all passengers we should incur Poseidon’s wrath, he said, whereby one day a fair ship, manned by Phaiakians would come to grief at the god’s hands; and great mountains would hide our city from the sea” (Homer 235). Fate is sealed in the gods’ hands. The gods are in control the

In Sophocles' Oedipus the King, the element of fate versus freewill shows up frequently all through the play. It is foreseen to Oedipus' parents, Jocasta and Laius, that their child would grow up to slaughter his father and wed his mother. Jocasta and Laius endeavor to dispose of their child, however, fate triumphs. Oedipus' fate all through the play has been chosen by the fate which adds to his annihilation. Various societies and cultures all through history have embraced similar perspectives, accepting a fate or destiny for their lives. Such points of view are very common is Greek myths who had confidence in "the three Fates" — goddesses who controlled the lives of individuals and the world in general. Clotho the youngest spins the thread of human life. She decides who will be born and when. Lachesis, a matron, measures the thread deciding a person’s lot in life. She is shown with a measuring stick, a scroll, a book, or a globe that represents the horoscope. Atropos, the oldest, choses the mechanism of death and ends the life of each mortal by cutting their thread. She is usually portrayed with a cutting instrument, a scroll, a wax tablet, a sundial, or a pair of scales. Even in modern day, some Christian philosophies incorporate destiny as fate. Many Jews acknowledge that their God has an arrangement for their people and nation.

Everyone else here does though. They all believe in finding your perfect soulmate. And that this clock, embedded into your wrist, would be the one who determines ‘the one’. When it hits zero, that’s when you meet your soulmate.

Relationships between gods and mortals are vital to Greek culture. Hippolytus, as strongly devoted as he is to the goddess Artemis, fails to show respect to the goddess of sexuality, Aphrodite. Aphrodite initially describes Hippolytus as, “an arrogant young man who should be punished for his contempt for [Aphrodite’s] world.” (Halleran, 274) His constant disrespect of the goddess results in Aphrodite’s scheme to ultimately get Hippolytus killed. Although Hippolytus has the support of the goddess Artemis, Aphrodite’s scheme to have Hippolytus killed ultimately triumphs, relating the play to Greek culture, implying the gods ultimately decide all mortals’ fate. Another god who impacts the life of Hippolytus is Poseidon, father of Theseus. Poseidon grants Theseus three wishes, and does Theseus well by fulfilling the curse Theseus wishes for his son; the curse of death. Evidently, Poseidon, although knowing Theseus may be making a decision he will regret, grants Theseus his wish, representing the strong relationship between Theseus and Poseidon. The relationships

Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos were more commonly known as the Fates, the personification of human destiny. Clotho would spin the thread when one would be born. Lachesis would weave the thread, while Atropos would cut the thread at the end of one’s life. Not only humans submit to the Fates, but immortals as well.

Many people believe that fate has planned out their lives and despite efforts on their part what was meant to happen, will eventually happen. This belief has been handed down over the centuries from some of the first civilizations, such as the Greeks. However, not all Greek citizens wanted destiny to take control of their lives. Some decided to choose freewill over the will of the gods. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles writes a cautionary tale meant to warn the doubters in Greek society that regardless of their beliefs in gods and prophecies, it is necessary to heed their warnings. Oedipus, Jocasta, and Laius are Sophocles’ characters that prove that escaping one’s fate is not possible, as each of their predicted fates is realized despite extensive efforts to thwart them.

Fate and free will played major parts in creating the characters and stories in many of the Greek mythologies and tragedies. The Greeks believes that the Gods and the Oracle's could predict a person's fate before or after birth, and that no one, even the Gods could intervene in that person's fate. They also believed that a person's or God could not create their own fate. This belief stems from the three fates: sisters, The Moirai or Fates were three sister deities, incarnations of destiny and life. Because of these three old women, fate could not be avoided or altered. As such with these stories, in the Iliad fate leads Achilles down his path of glory and his early demise, and cause Oedipus to sleep with his own mother and kill his father. Free will is the power of acting without constraint and fate; acting by one's own decisions. Even though Achilleus and Oedipus have fate, they both also have free will. For instance, Achilles has a double fate: if he goes home, he will live long without glory or if he stays at Troy, he will have lots of glory, but a short life. As such, in Sophocles Oedipus the King, when Oedipus was born he was fated to kill his father and lay with his mother, thought his ability of free will caused his fate to come true.

The goddess Amaris is the goddess of karma, nightmares, and bad luck. Her grandfather, Zeus, put her in charge of judgment. She is the goddess that punishes the bad with her cursed silk ribbon. One day her father,Hermes, discovered her secret.

It is consistently difficult to understand in old world literature, from Homeric epics to Virgil's work, The Aeneid, what the relation of fate is to the Pantheon of gods. There seems to be an ongoing debate within the texts discussing whether "fate" is the supreme ruling force in the universe and the controlling element of the lives of men, or whether fate is the will of the king of gods, Jupiter. In, The Aeneid, several situations and instances of the use of fate are presented to the reader. The direction and destination of Aeneas's course are preordained, and his various sufferings and glories in battle and at sea over the course of the epic merely postpone his unchangeable destiny.

Fate, as described in the Oxford English Dictionary, is “The principle, power, or agency by which, according to certain philosophical and popular systems of belief, all events, or some events in particular, are unalterably predetermined from eternity.” To the western world, fate is perceived as “a sentence or doom of the gods” (Oxford). They often sought prophecies of the gods, especially from Apollo, the god of knowledge. The Greeks would seek prophecies usually when they had doubts about something, or if they were afraid or in despair. When the gods made a prophecy, the Greeks put all their faith in it and believed that it would happen. When their prophecies did come true, was it really fate that

Many may tell themselves, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”, William Ernest Henley’s, Invictus. Individuals often believe life is independent of outside forces; one does not often ponder whether situations that introduce decisions or experiences are controlled by fate and the gods. In Virgil’s The Aeneid, he introduces the notion that we are all subject to the workings of fate regardless of our will or desire; this is shown through the tragic romance between Aeneas, a Trojan, and Dido, the queen of Carthage. Their love and lives are a combination of free will, fate, and the work of the gods. We are all brought into the world without choice, thus lack the will to change our destiny from birth. In the end, however it

The Fates of Greek mythology, otherwise known as the Moirae, consist of three deities who personify the concept of human destiny. Clotho, the youngest, spins the metaphorical thread of life; Lachesis measures the thread’s length, or the amount of time a human has to live; and Atropos, the eldest and most powerful, cuts the thread, deciding the moment of a person’s death. The Fates play

Playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca said that “Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant,” (Beautiful Quotes) and perhaps nowhere is this idea better illustrated than in Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid. Fate drives the course of events throughout the twelve books of The Aeneid, pushing both the mortal and divine, to the unwavering destinies laid before them, and destroying those who attempt to defy, or even hinder, the course of destiny. Today, fate is regarded as a benign force which can be easily combated with free will. However, As Virgil conveys in his epic, fate was once considered to be so unyielding that not even the gods themselves could intervene to prevent its coming to