The Pre-Oedipus Story Background information leading up to King Oedipus

In the beginning The story begins in Greece, in the city-state of Thebes King Laius and Queen Jocasta were expecting their first child when they received a rather disturbing prophesy from the Oracle at Delphi: Their son would kill his father and marry his mother

To avoid fate/destiny Laius and Jocasta decide to kill their new son and prevent the prophecy from coming true They pierce and bind their son’s ankles to prevent him from crawling away and give him to a shepherd to kill on the mountainside

At Cithaeron The child is brought to Citheron, a nearby mountain where sheep are tended, but the shepherd cannot kill the baby So Shepherd #1 gives baby to Shepherd #2, who will bring him away from Thebes

At Corinth In the city of Corinth, Shepherd #2 gives the baby to King Polybus and Queen Merope, a couple who haven’t been able to have their own children They raise Oedipus as their own child, never telling him that he is adopted

Behold your sins However, the truth surfaces… At a wedding, a guest tells Oedipus that Polybus and Merope are not his parents Oedipus confronts them, but both adamantly deny it

The Oracle at Delphi Unsatisfied with this response, Oedipus decides to ask the question of the Oracle at Delphi, priestess of the god Apollo But, rather than give a straight answer, the Oracle responds with a prophesy: “You will kill your father and beget (have) children by your mother.”

When all else fails Oedipus decides that he can’t go back home to Corinth, otherwise he may fulfill the prophecy and kill his father and marry his mother So he heads for the city of Thebes

Dramatic irony We know that Polybus and Merope are not his real parents, so he could go home to Corinth The worst thing for him would be to head towards Thebes But that is the way he goes

Meanwhile, in Thebes The Sphinx, part lion, part bird, part human, has Thebes under siege The only way to avoid being destroyed by the Sphinx is to correctly answer a riddle it would ask King Laius decides to travel to the Oracle at Delphi to seek a solution to this threat

At the crossroads Oedipus and Laius meet at a crossroads as Oedipus is running from the Oracle and Laius to it Neither knows they are father and son An argument ensues over who has the right of way

Prophetic parricide Legend has it that Laius strikes first and Oedipus retaliates But the unfortunate result is that, in the end, Oedipus kills King Laius Unwittingly, Oedipus has now fulfilled the first part of the Oracle’s prophecy

On to Thebes Oedipus continues onto Thebes and encounters the Sphinx The Sphinx asks Oedipus its riddle: “What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?”

Outfoxing the Sphinx After correctly answering the riddle and ridding Thebes of the Sphinx, the people reward Oedipus by making him their king The easiest way to accomplish this is for him to marry the queen, Jocasta The second part of prophesy is now fulfilled

The beginning of the end Oedipus and Jocasta marry and have four children: two sons and two daughters After about 20 years of marital bliss, the events of our play begin