Fate & Destiny
In the beginning a man and a woman were born. They
married each other and lived a life that was filled with
much happiness and joy. One day a terrible car accident
occurred that killed them both. In this world we live in
we face everyday choices. Maybe these people did not
choose to die, but they maybe chose to drive in the car
that day. Was what happened to them an accident or a bad
twist of fate that was their destiny? Were these two
wonderful people predestined to die at that moment or was
it just an accident or did they just make a bad choice to
drive in a car that day?
It is my belief that we are here for some purpose.
Some meaningful some not. Each of us has our own opinion
whether that is so. Fate is a part of this world. In
mythology fate/destiny is often looked upon for guidance,
prophecies made concerning fate often come true, and even
the gods in mythology respect their own destiny.
In mythology, when people were facing hard times they
visited temples of guidance on what they were destined to
do. Like in the story of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche’s
parents went to seek an oracle (in Apollo’s temple) for
advice on what to do with her. The oracle directed Psyche
in the right direction of her fate or gave a hint to what
was destined to happen anyway. Also, in the Odyssey where
Odysseus visits Hades to see an old blind dead soothsayer
to find out what he should do in order to get home. Last
is the destiny of Oedipus who seeks help to make his
country a better place, only to find out what his real
destiny was.
A strange thing happened in all of these different
prophecies and destines of all these gods/humans. They all
came true. All of them. For instance, it was said that it
would take Odysseus ten years to return home. Low and
behold, he came back in ten years. Halitherses who warned
the suitor’s of their own destiny if they don’t change. Of
course they do not listen they do not change their ways
and end up meeting their ultimate demise. And we don’t
want to forget about the fate of Oedipus whose destiny was
to kill his father and marry his mother. Sad thing is that
it came true.
In the mythological tale of Oedipus the main
character tries to avoid his destiny. In the end however
that did not work. He was mentally destroyed from what he
tried to avoid. You see he tried to avoid what you cannot
avoid and that made for drastic consequences. Even the
gods like the almighty Zeus pays heed to his own fate. He
knows when his time will come and even he has to obey. If
the most powerful god on Mt. Olympus knows that you cannot
fight what is already decided for you, why shouldn’t you?
In closing, we are here on this planet. Is there a
purpose for it, or is this an accident? Why are we here?
We would all like to believe that there is a purpose for
being here, but we also want to believe that we all have
the freedom of choice. After all this is America, and
we’ve grown quite used to the idea. In mythology
fate/destiny means you have some purpose. Because we are
here on this small little planet among a vast solar
system, among countless galaxies, we must be here for a
purpose. Do you really think this is all an accident? I
don’t.
