Oedipus Rex the Delphic Oracle,

Oedipus Rex

The Delphic Oracle, the oracle of Apollo, tells Laius, King of Thebes, that if he and his wife had a son, this son would kill him and take his throne. Thus, when a son is born to Laius and his wife, Iokaste, or Jocasta, they give the infant to a servant with instructions to abandon him on the mountainside, thus the child would die and the prophecy would not be fulfilled.

However, the servant takes pity on the infant, and rather than abandoning it on the mountainside, he gives it to another man, the Messenger, who carries it to the King and Queen of Cornith, who are childless. They adopt the boy and name him Oedipus, which is a reference to his feet that are swollen and maimed from where Laius and Jocasta pieced them. The King and Queen of Cornith raise Oedipus as their own, and the boy grows up believing that they are his real parents.

When Oedipus becomes a man, the oracle tells him that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Thus, Oedipus flees Cornith to avoid the oracle's prophecy. Along the way, he becomes involved in a small skirmish at a crossroads outside of Thebes and kills a man, who unbeknownst to Oedipus is actually his father Laius. The city then falls under the power of the Sphinx, who demands that someone solve the riddle, which asks, what goes on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night. When Oedipus enters the city of Thebes, he solves the riddle, answering that it is a man, for he crawls as an infant, walks as a man, and uses a cane when he is old. With this answer, the Sphinx kills herself and Oedipus is declared a hero and in return is awarded Iocasta as his wife. Oedipus and Iocasta enjoy a happy marriage, and have two daughters, Ismene and Antigone.

When the play opens, a plague has overcome Thebes, and so Oedipus has sent Creon to consult the oracle of Apollo to seek a solution. Creon reports that the oracle has declared that Laius's murderer must be found and banished from Thebes, only then will the plague be lifted. Oedipus sends for the blind prophet, Teiresias, to tell him who killed Laius. Teiresias names Oedipus as the killer and says that his marriage to Iocasta is sinful, and reminds him of his parents' curse. Iocasta and Oedipus exchange stories of their pasts. Then a messenger arrives announcing the death of Polybus, King of Cornith. Oedipus is relieved believing that he has escaped the prophecy. However, the messenger tells him that it was he who took Oedipus to Cornith. The servant confirms this, and thus the truth is revealed and the prophecy has been fulfilled after all.

Oedipus is an honorable man. He is brave and loyal. His love for his citizens drives him to seek the killer of Laius in order to rid the city of the plague. He is driven to find out his true identity by a culmination of events, the prophet's riddle, the messenger's tale, and Iocasta's account, all of which begin to haunt him.