Oedipus the King is the story of Oedipus who from birth was prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother. When his parents found out about this prophecy they told a guard to kill the infant immediately. The guard went out to kill the baby, but found he could not do it, so he nailed the baby to a rock by his foot and intended for nature to do his dirty work. After the guard leaves a Corinthian shepherd finds the baby and takes him to the King and Queen of Corintyh, who raise the baby as their own. Oedipus grew up believing that the King and Queen of Corinth were his true parents, so when he found out about the Oracle's prediction that he would kill his father and marry his mother he left Corinth so he could not fufill the prophecy. On the road to Thebes Oedipus runs into a beggar who refuses to get out of his way, so Oedipus kills the beggar and moves on. As he approaches Thebes he encounters the Sphinx. The Sphinx tells him to answer her riddle correctly or she will kill him. Oedipus does answer the riddle correctly and the Sphinx kills herself and Oedipus is the savior of Thebes. He is welcomed as a hero and is made king since the Theban king had died on his way to the Oracle at Delphi. He is also given the king's wife, Iocasta to be his wife. Oedipus and Iocasta rule Thebes with little incident for many years and they have four children. All of a sudden a plauge strikes Thebes and Oedipus and the townspeople are baffled in regard to its cause. Oedipus sends he trusty brother-in-law Creon to the Oracle at Delphi to find out what is causing this plauge upon Thebes. Creon returns with the news that the reason the plauge has befallen Thebes is because King Liaus's murderer has never been brought to justice. Oedipus oreders a sweeping search of the city, but the searches are fruitless. During these searches the seer, Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is King Liaus's muderer. Once oedipus realizes t...