Laius was the King of Thebes and married to Jocasta. Laius had received an oracle from Delphi saying that his son would kill him and marry his wife. When Jocasta gave birth, Laius tied the baby's ankles and ordered a shepherd-servant to take it to the mountain and abandon it there to die. However, the shepherd took pity on the baby and passed it to another shepherd who gave it to the King of Corinth and his wife, who did not have any children and raised it as their own. They called the child Oedipus, meaning "swollen feet" in Greek. When Oedipus grew up, he traveled to Delphi where the Oracle gave him the prophecy that he would kill his own father and marry his mother. Shocked by the words of Apollo, he did not return to Corinth so as to avoid his father and mother. As he was traveling near Thebes, Oedipus met Laius at a crossroads and killed him in a fight, without knowing he was his real father, thus fulfilling the first part of the prophecy. When he reached Thebes, he learned of Sphinx, a terrible monster that devoured anyone that did not solve its riddle. It was proclaimed that whoever managed to solve the riddle and kill the Sphinx, he would take the throne of Thebes, by marrying Laius' widow, Jocasta. Oedipus was successful in solving the riddle and killing the Sphinx. He married Jocasta and together had four children. Little did he know that his children were also his siblings. While Oedipus was at the peak of his happiness, there was an epidemic in Thebes. Oedipus sought the advice of the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle's answer was that in order to stop the epidemic, Laius' killer must be found and punished. The investigation that followed led Oedipus to the truth. Upon realizing the truth, Jocasta, his mother and wife, hanged herself. Oedipus then seized two pins from her dress and blinded himself with them. A Greek tragedy indeed...
