Fate and Free Will
Fate is described as the power that determines the outcome of events before they occur, while free will is the act of freedom towards a decision. Oedipus’s fate was determined before he was born, yet he took it into his own free will to end up the way he did.
The role of fate was simple; Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus tried to prevent his fate by running away from his alleged parents, but the gods would still cause a catastrophe in Oedipus’s life. The powers of the gods determined the events that occurred, such as, him marrying his actual mother and killing his father.