Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Those who ponder time-travel often get hung up on the points of paradox, and speculate that somehow the universe must 'protect itself' from problems with causality. The first of these fictional 'protections' emerged in the works of Sophocles some 450 years B.C. with the story of Oedipus the King. Long story short... an attempt to 'rewrite history' by preventing the prophesied future in which Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother results, suprise! in Oedipus killing his father and marrying his mother. Oh, the irony!

"21st-century readers are no doubt aware that this 'self-fulfilling prophesy' approach has been done quite literally to death over the course of 2500 years. All that remains to be innovated there is 'how to trick the protagonist into creating the future he seeks to prevent, while preventing the reader from seeing this as a rehash of Oedipus Rex.' Have you ever read one of these stories, or seen one of these films, and wanted to poke your eyes out? Now you know why."

-- Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary, 2005-04-10 (in a note attached to a time-travel story arc)