The destruction of Oedipus was predicted to his father and mother, Laius and Jocasta, when he was born. He was told again when he was a young Corinthian prince, to whom he ran away from home ("I heard all this and ran" 876). Tiresias tells him again during the Oedipus Rex passage. Oedipus' fate is sealed, unalterable from the moment of his creation. He was destined to marry his mother and kill his father. Phaedra is not controlled by fate. She is possessed by a frivolous deity ("the goddess's anger has fallen on your head" p142), hurt by her lack of praise and holding a grudge against Phaedra's stepson Hippolytus. It is therefore the goddess Aphrodite who makes Phaedra fall in love with the young Athenian prince. Phaedra's suicide and her lying words on the note she writes before dying bring destruction to the blasphemous Hippolytus, while his father Theseus curses his son. Both characters undeniably have supernatural powers that affect their destinies. However, it is important to remember that his suicide and the destruction of Hippolytus are not the result of fate. It is under the control of the goddess Artemis. Therefore his actions are not directly under his control. Oedipus has a path traced by destiny on his hand ("you were born for pain" 1305). It is a path that has been destined for him throughout his life and he is aware of what the gods have set in motion. He is a "man of agony". However, it is Oedipus' struggle against the judgment of the gods that leads to destruction. The path may have been blazed, but it was Oedipus who walked it. Oedipus' innate character flaw (hamartia) of arrogance (pride) is his own undoing and without it his destiny could not have come true. His pride forced him to kill... middle of paper... the nurse. Works Cited Dodds, E. R. "On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex." Twentieth-century interpretations of Oedipus Rex: a collection of critical essays. Ed. Michael J. O'Brien. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968. 17-29. Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless tales of gods and heroes. New York: Penguin Books, 1940.Kitto, HDF The Greeks. New York: Penguin Books, 1951. Knox, Bernard M. W. The Heroic Temperament: Studies in the Tragedy of Sophocles. Berkeley: U of California Press, 1964.Nagle, Brendan D. The Ancient World: A Cultural and Social History. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1979. Rosenberg, Donna. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. Illinois: Passport Books, 1988. Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnett, et al. New York: Longmann, 1997. 800-836.