Fate, he asserts, is what brings about the events of the play, but as a "free agent" (246), Oedipus now controls his actions. This statement is consistent with Dodds' opinion on the matter. He states: "The Homeric heroes have their predetermined 'portion of life,' they must die on their 'appointed day,' but it never occurs to the poet or his audience that this prevents them from being agents free” (223). Dodds successfully attempts to refute the idea that Oedipus was just a puppet at the mercy of the gods. According to his essay, modern readers either “believe in free will or [they] are determinists” (223) with no middle ground. He incorporates Homeric thought into his essay to argue that this reasoning is incorrect. Even though a person's destiny is predetermined, there are many ways in which a person's decisions play a major role in how they achieve their goal.