Greek+-+fate-free+will

=Fate/Free Will By Brittany Sandone, Chris Lutz and Amanda Cordero = The battle of fate versus free will has been the topic of written works for centuries. Ancient Greek mythology is no different. There are many stories of both Greek mortals and gods that involve fate and free will. King Acrisius, Oedipus and Cronus each met their own fated destinies. On the other hand, Zeus, Antigone and Hercules acted on their own free will, not bound by their fate. The following information is taken from the book __Mythology__ by Edith Hamilton.

**//King Acrisius//**: King Acrisius of Argos tried to fight his fate but failed. The king had a beautiful daughter, Danaë. The king traveled to the oracle at Delphi to see if he would one day have a son. The oracle told the king that not only would he not have a son but also that his daughter’s son would kill him. To avoid this fate, Acrisius knew that he had to kill his daughter before she had a son; however, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead of killing his daughter, Acrisius decided to keep her in a bronze house that was sunk into the ground and therefore prevent her from getting pregnant. Despite his precautions, Zeus, in the form of gold rain, came into the house and impregnated Danaë. Her son Perseus, who was the hero who killed the gorgon Medusa, did in fact kill Acrisius, just as the oracle said (p. 141-148).

**//Oedipus//**: When King Laius of Thebes went to the oracle at Delphi, the priestess told him that he would be killed by his son’s hand. To escape this fate, Laius left his baby son with his feet tied together on a mountain. The son, Oedipus, was found and adopted by another king. When Oedipus found out that it was his fate to kill his father, marry his mother and have monstrous children, he too tried to escape his fate. Oedipus left King Polybus, the man Oedipus thought was his father, and traveled to Thebes. On the way, Oedipus killed King Laius, not realizing that he was the king or his father. Oedipus married Laius’s wife, Jocasta, who was also the mother of Oedipus. Oedipus and Jocasta had four children, whose stories all ended tragically. Despite his efforts, Oedipus’s fate came to pass (p. 256-261).




 * //Cronus//**: Cronus was a titan and the father of Zeus. He was the ruler of the other titans (Hamilton p. 24). Cronus found out that one of his children was destined to dethrone him. In order to prevent this, Cronus swallowed each of his children when they were born. When Zeus was born, his mother, Rhea, hid him in Crete. When Zeus grew up, he dethroned Cronus and made his disgorge the children he had swallowed (p. 65-66).




 * //Zeus//**: Zeus, the son who dethroned Cronus, did as he pleased. As the ruler of the gods, Zeus did what he wanted without his actions being questioned. Only Hera, his wife, dared stand up against Zeus when he had his love affairs with mortal when. Zeus often interfered with the lives of mortals. He also loved and impregnated many women such as Europa and Danaë. His fate to dethrone Cronus aside, Zeus acted solely on his own free will.




 * //Antigone//**: Antigone, the heroine of Sophocles’s play of the same name, also acted on her own free will. When her traitorous brother Polyneices died, Antigone buried the body to allow his spirit to go to Hades, the underworld. The king, her uncle Creon, had made a decree forbidding anyone to bury the traitor. Antigone defied this law even though she knew it would mean her death. She was not fated by any oracle to die but instead made up her mind to do the right thing and pay the price (p. 261-264).




 * //Hercules//**: Hercules, a son of Zeus, also did whatever he wanted. Hercules was unbelievably strong. He felt that he was like a god because of his strength and his parentage. A man ruled by emotion, not logic or thought, Hercules often acted spontaneously and of his own free will. For example, one day when it was particularly hot, Hercules pointed his bow and arrow to the sun and threatened to shoot it. Hercules’s confidence, strength and lack of intellect led him to do as he pleased. (p. 160)