What role does Fate play in King Oedipus?

In the tragedy “King Oedipus”, the antagonist is fate. We come to know about the workings of fate when Oedipus sends Creon to the temple of Apollo to know the fate of Thebes.

Now we see that the fate of Oedipus, King Laius and Jocasta begins to reveal. We know that Apollo made a prophecy to Laius and Jocasta that they would give birth to a son who would kill his father and sleep with his brother.

In order to avert such prophecy, Laius and Jocasta give their son Oedipus to the shepherd. The shepherd was to drop the baby on Mount Cithaeron. But the shepherd gave the baby to a Corinthian shepherd. Now, Oedipus was brought up in the palace of King Polybus and Queen Merope.

There Oedipus received the prophecy of Apollo that he would kill his father and marry his mother. In order to avert the fate, Oedipus left Corinth and went toward Thebes. There he killed his father, married his mother and became the new king of Thebes.

Moreover, Jocasta tries to disbelieve fate. When Oedipus is desperate to find out the identity of the murderer of King Laius, he comes to know from Jocasta about the prophecy to her and her husband. She also tells him that Laius was killed by a gang of robber and not by their son.

Thus, Apollo's prophecy is false. But when the identity of the murderer of King Laius is revealed, we see that the prophecy about the fate of Oedipus, King Laius and Jocasta becomes true. Thus, we can say that in "King Oedipus", fate is very powerful. The main characters of the play try to avert it but finally fail.