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. May be these people did not choose to die, but they may be 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 suitors 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. 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.