blog post #2 - fate's so relevant, it's nearly irrelevant

As Oedipus follows his destiny to the dire end, Sophocles emphasizes his vain efforts to resist the influence of "The Fates." Connecting to the rest of Greek lore, this theme of human weakness in the face of Gods reverberates throughout the play. With literary devices like dramatic irony and paradox at his disposal, Sophocles twists readers into a conclusion that can not only be predicted, but expected, from the onset.

From a post-modern perspective, this Greek mythological approach, replicated for centuries, assumes too much about the human perception of time. Along with other Ancient World literature, Greek drama establishes a linear storyboard, where one event leads to the next. After a century of quantum physics and spacial relativity, we've finally realized that this concept of time is merely sensual with no real logical foundation.

I tend to side more with the school of Vonnegut, who in Slaughterhouse Five portrays time as scattered parallel events. Even moment simulateously happens, happened, has happened, and will happen. From this perspective, the human idea of fate is inconsequential, as no clear set of events leads to the next. On the same token, the future has already been determined, similar to the prophecy of The Fates, but it's not really the future at all. It's already taken place.