Do we have free will or a predetermined fate? In most modern stories such as Harry Potter, George RR Martin’s a Song of Ice and Fire series, and Westworld, the characters clearly display free will and choice, however in classical Greek myths, this is not the case. Most classical myths center around a prophecy, foretelling the future of the main characters. When these characters discover this prophecy, their decisions to try to change their fate always lead to their downfall and fulfillment of the prophecy. One of the most famous examples of this is the fate of Achilles. After his birth, the mother of Achilles, Theitis, heard a prophecy that her son was destined to gain immense fame and honor as the most skilled warrior in all of Greece but die at a young age on the shores of the city Troy. To save her son, she dipped him in the River Styx, making him invincible except in the back of his left heel (where she held him). When the Trojan War began, the young Achilles, armed in the armor of the Greek god Hephaestus, became Greece’s weapon of mass destruction. He was invincible on the battlefield and gained immense fame and glory until the day when Paris, Prince of Troy, shot Achilles with a poison arrow on the back of his heel. The River Styx and Hephaestus’ armor couldn’t protect Achilles from his destiny. Do you think you have free will or that life has been laid out for you?
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