Free Fallin'

Both fate and freewill are powerful motifs in Oedipus Rex. Though fate is depicted as the more inescapable of the two. The story in itself is filled with characters using their free-will to attempt to avoid what they know to be there fate. For instance Oedipus uses his free-will to avoid his fate by not returning to who he believes to be his parents kingdom, for fear of killing his father and marrying his mother. But as we know in the end fate is the downfall of Oedipus and it turns out that he did wrong anyway. They go hand in hand because when there is fate discussed in the book people are always excercising their free-will to change it.