The belief of many people at the time of Oedipus was that fate and prophecy were completely inevitable. Some characters in the Oedipus story, such as Jocasta and King Laius, clearly believed that fate could be avoided. By allowing their newborn to die, they thought they had found a flaw in his prophecy. However, this was proven false when Oedipus survived and ended up unwittingly fulfilling his prophecy. “And it is I, I and no other, I have cursed myself so much. And I defile the bed of him whom I killed by the hands that killed him. (p. 497). Here Oedipus admitted to killing many men in the woods one day before becoming the ruler of Thebes. He also admitted that, after hearing Jocasta's account of King Laius' death, he was probably the one who murdered him. Oedipus was visibly very upset. He was aware of his prophecy at the time, but he did not know who King Laius was, nor that he was his biological father. He could never have avoided what happened in the woods. It was destiny, and destiny can never be