Fate

Two closely related concepts loom large in the way mortals think about their place in the world: fate and destiny. The idea of fate is that the course of each mortal’s life is predetermined, spun out in a tapestry woven by a trio of semidivine women, the Fates. Gods aren’t bound by the strands of fate, their lives and legends constantly changing and endlessly uncertain. In the case of most mortals, it’s thought they plod along their predetermined path from beginning to end, carrying out the tasks appointed for them until they complete their journey to the Underworld.
This fairly bleak view of existence is undermined by the heroic ideal exemplified in myths, legends, and the lived experience of Theros’s people. Heroes, by definition, are people who defy the predetermined course of fate. They take their fate into their own hands and chart their own courses, striding boldly into the unknown, striking down supposedly invincible foes, and resisting the will of gods. Their proud defiance of fate is rewarded when they at last complete their mortal journeys; worthy heroes spend their afterlives in Ilysia, the fairest realm of the Underworld, where they finally rest from the struggle of their lives. In many cases, their works also live on, both in the stories of future generations and repeating in the night sky among the stars of Nyx.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural