A very strong belief in Greek philosophy is the belief that a person's fate is pre-determined and unchangeable. The Greeks believed they should accept their fate, because ultimately there is no way to avoid it. In the Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, the irony of fate brings the downfall of Oedipus. The lingering question after reading the play is whether Oedipus could have acted differently to avoid his downfall or if he was merely a victim of fate. Sophocles wove Greek philosophy throughout Oedipus the King and expressed the ideas of fate and how trying to avoiding fate can bring a person to a worse one. The Greek philosophy at the time was, "The very concept that all of life is preordained by fates beyond the control of the individual is, in and of itself, a bar to human progress. It is a recipe for stasis and stagnation...