1 Born to Laius and Jocasta the king

1. Born to Laius and Jocasta the king and queen of Thebes Laius Jocasta 2. As a baby, Oedipus was left to be killed by a shepherd on Mt. Cithaeron with his ankles skewered and tied together 3. Instead the shepherd gave it to a friend, who took it to the city of Corinth where Oedipus was adopted by king Polybus and queen Merope 4. Years later he found out who his real parents were

As a grown man Oedipus sees an oracle. The oracle tells him that he will kill his father and marry his mother In an effort to prove the oracle wrong he leaves his ‘father’ Polybus, ‘mother’ Merope, and city Corinth While wandering the roads he crossed paths with an old man The man assaulted him and as a result, Oedipus killed him After killing the old man, he found his way into Thebes and saved them from the sphinx

To rid Thebes of the sphinx, who was terrorizing the Thebans, Oedipus had to answer a riddle The riddle was “What animal has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening? ” The answer was humans. In the morning, or early life, babies crawl on four limbs, at noon or middle age, people walk on two limbs, and in the evening, or old age, people walk on two limbs and an added walking stick which equals three With the success of completing the riddle, he was made king of Thebes and married Queen Jocasta

More years pass, during which Oedipus and Jocasta have four children, two sons, Polynices and Eteocles and two daughters, Antigone and Ismene Thebes gradually falls to a vile plague, which kills animals, children, and crops, and Oedipus as the ruler promises to save the city Plagues are cause by pollution which is caused by sin, and only an oracle can reveal its cause The cause of the plague is found to be an undetected crime: the murder of Laius

They need to figure out who killed Laius. The only witness of the murder said he was killed by a band of thieves The murder wasn’t investigated due to other events but the case was reopened by Oedipus in fear that the killer might strike him, the new king of Thebes The punishment of the murderer will be exile, even if he doesn’t confess but is then caught Oedipus also reopened the case because he wanted to avenge Laius because he was Jocasta’s previous husband Oedipus curses the unknown murderer and anyone who shelters or protects him, even if it is unwittingly He states “Even if he’s caught in my own house, may the curse I pronounced on him strike me” To gain some knowledge, a blind seer by the name of Tiresias, is brought to Thebes

Tieresias is reluctant to say anything so Oedipus assumes he is a fake Oedipus goes on mocking Tieresias- his blindness as a prophet , with eyes wide open for profit Tieresias then tells Oedipus that he himself is blind because he can’t see the corruption of his life and when he does he will become blind Oedipus accuses him of talking in riddles He departs mocking “isn’t solving riddles what you’re good at? ” and adds “The murderer is brother and father to his children

Jocasta tells the story of her son According to prophets, Laius was supposed to be killed by his son He was instead killed by strangers at a crossroad Her son died, exposed with his ankles skewered, on Mount Cithaeron

The mention of the crossroads reminds Oedipus of his past Oedipus asks Jocasta to send for the surviving witness who was really the old shepherd who was told to kill the baby Jocasta had given him but he couldn’t bear and the baby instead was taken to Corinth Oedipus now fears he had killed Laius A shepherd comes, not the one Oedipus sent for but instead a shepherd with news from Corinth that Polybus has died Oedipus is then faced with the fear that he might still marry his mother but the shepherd says there’s no need to worry because Polybus wasn’t his real father Polybus had come to treat him like a son because the shepherd gave the boy that was given to him, by a shepherd that was given the boy, from one of Laius servants, to Polybus

At the moment that is said, Jocasta knows the truth, so she screams and rushes inside…no one seems to notice According to the shepherd, he was told to get rid of the baby because it would kill its parents Oedipus now knows the truth and rushes inside and demands a sword to kill Jocasta with He finds her already dead, suicide through hanging herself, so he grabs the pins of her dress and stabbed his eyes