A story is told of King Laius of Thebes, who had a son named Oedipus. Desiring to know his son’s fate, Laius consulted the Oracle of Delphi. The oracle foretold that Oedipus would one day kill his father and marry his mother.
Jolted by the prophecy, Laius ordered that the infant be abandoned on a mountainside to die, believing that by doing so he could escape his son’s fate.
As fate would have it, the child was rescued by a shepherd and eventually raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth as their own.
Years later, having come of age, Oedipus too consulted the Oracle of Delphi. He was given the same prophecy, that he would kill his father and marry his mother.
Believing that Polybus and Merope were his true parents, Oedipus fled Corinth to avoid his horrible fate.
On his journey, he encountered a stranger at a crossroads. A quarrel broke out and Oedipus killed him. Unbeknownst to him, the stranger was King Laius, his biological father.
Continuing his travels, Oedipus arrived at Thebes, where he solved the riddle of the Sphinx and freed the city from its torment. In gratitude, the people made him their king and gave him the recently widowed Queen Jocasta in marriage.
Yes, Jocasta was his mother.
As we flee our fate, we run towards it.
Fabio