The idea of ​​destiny has perplexed humanity for centuries. Can humans control what happens to them or are they all placed in a predestined world designed by a higher power? The Epic of Gilgamesh and Oedipus Rex emphasize the idea that no matter what happens, people cannot control what is destined to occur. Interestingly, many other distantly related cultures had and have similar gods or goddesses who play a role in the fate of individuals. The oracle at Delphi told Oedipus, king of Thebes, that he would one day kill his father and marry his mother. Determined not to let this prophecy verify his fears, Oedipus does everything in his power to prevent this from happening, but fails. Likewise, Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, attempts to achieve immortality, but also fails. Gilgamesh and Oedipus' intense fear and ignorance leads them to try to interfere with their fate, leading to their failures and realization of the futility of trying to control fate. The characters Oedipus and Gilgamesh are very similar in that they are both afraid of their fate. After the death of his friend Enkidu, Gilgamesh is wracked with worry, asking, “shall I not also lie down like him./And never arise forever?” ("The Epic of Gilgamesh" 76). The prospect of lying in a grave forever is not appealing to Gilgamesh. He fears it so much that he tries to prevent his inevitable fate from happening. Seeing his friend die and rot scared Gilgamesh beyond belief. He can't bear the idea of ​​being lost forever, of not being remembered by anyone. Likewise, Oedipus is afraid of fulfilling his prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, making him a sinner unfit to rule his kingdom. He knows that if he commits this horrible... middle of paper... he will have made a mistake and "this sudden enlightenment (or epiphany) assures us that order and purpose exist in the universe, even if we cannot understand the exact nature of that order and purpose” (Markos 39). The world may never know whether we have the power to control our ultimate destinies or not. However, in Oedipus the King and the Epic of Gilgamesh it is clear that free will does not exist. Oedipus and Gilgamesh are puppets controlled by the higher gods, incapable of exercising free will. No matter what course they take, Oedipus cannot escape killing his father and marrying his mother, and Gilgamesh cannot escape death. However, their fears drive them to try to manipulate their actions and prevent their fate from occurring. It's only a matter of time before these two characters fail in their attempts and realize that trying to control destiny is futile.