Oedipus the king and his destinyOedipus the king, by Sophocles, is a play about how Oedipus lives out his destiny of killing his father and marrying his wife. mother, both extremely negative in Greek society, even if he thinks of moving away from it. Despite the Greek notions of supreme power of the gods and fate, Oedipus' fall is primarily the result of his own actions and attempts by King Laius to challenge the gods, consequently Sophocles says that the prophecies of the gods about someone's fate they should not be ignored. . The prophecies of the Oracle of Delphi are told to King Laius, Queen Jocasta, and Oedipus. Sophocles says that the prophecies of the gods about someone's fate should not be ignored when King Laius went to the Oracle at Delphi and received a prophecy that his son, Oedipus, was going to kill him and marry his wife Jacosta. Shepherd - No! No! I already said, I gave him the child... He was the son of Laius, so I was told. But it's the lady in there, your wife, who tells you. Oedipus - Did he give it to you? Shepherd - Yes, sir, he did it... To destroy him... He was afraid of terrible prophecies... The child would kill his parents, that was the story. Oedipus - Then why did you give it to this old man here? Shepherd - Out of pity, master, I thought you would take him away to a foreign land. - in the place from which it comes. If you are the man he says you are, you are born the most unfortunate of men." (86-89)When King Laius heard this prophecy and returned to Thebes to tell it to his wife, they planned to kill their child, but no one of the two had the courage to do so. They ordered a shepherd servant to take their child to Mount Cithaeron to kill him, but the servant took pity on the child and gave him to another shepherd of Corinth in the hope that he could take him to a foreign country. to take care of him. Sophocles says that the prophecies of the gods about someone's fate should not be ignored when he recounts that when Oedipus was in the care of his adoptive parents, Polybus and Merope, he made a trip to the Oracle at Delphi without them. they knew it.