As a child I had a passion for mythology and legends, and of course I could not avoid the famous Greek Mythology. I particularly remember the myth of Oedipus, and its famous prophecy – And the Oracle of Appolo at Delphi looked at Laius, ‘Laius,’ the Oracle voiced, ‘know that any son born to you will kill him, before marrying Jocasta, his own mother.’ I read it and read it and… read it again, still I could not understand Laius’ reaction -to tie his son at a top of a mountain leaving him there to die. I could only see this as the best way to fulfil the given prophecy -if Oedipus were to live, he would not even know who were his parents, he would not have the knowledge. And… Oedipus lived, and with him the prophecy. You can find other examples in literature of self-fulfilling prophecy, like recently the one in the Harry Potter series. Attempting to protect themselves, and obeying to their fears, characters in those stories act on the prophecies, their own actions usually the trigger allowing the prophecy to happen. Of course we always like a good story. Still…. What if the prophecy was only Laius thoughts? Are our thoughts, just thoughts? and what about our newspapers? What about then those economical prognostics that are sometimes made, two or three weeks ahead of time? What about the fears they create at times? prophecy or self-fulfilling stories?
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